Everything You Need to Know About Customs Rules at Indian Airports

Everything You Need to Know About Customs Rules at Indian Airports

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When you grab cheap flight tickets from USA to India, you should know that each traveller entering India must go through customs rules. The passenger has to disclose the goods of his luggage using the authorised Indian Customs Declaration Form. At airports, passengers have the choice of obtaining clearance through the Green Channel or the Red Channel, depending on the nature of the goods transported.

Tripbeam is here with a brief overview of the rules and guidelines governing Indian customs for visitors from the USA to India, to help make the procedure simple and seamless.

What Should be Declared at Customs in India?

Getting cheapest business class flights to India from USA allows customers to go through customs upon arrival in India. The first step is to complete the customs declaration form provided by the airline before disembarking. Make sure to complete and sign the declaration before presenting it to the immigration official at the Indian airport.

There are two customs clearance channels: red and green. Here’s how they differ.

Red Channel

The red channel is for passengers carrying forbidden items or amounts that exceed the free allowance in their luggage.

The list of restricted or dutiable items includes:

Green Channel

The green channel is for travellers who do not have any things that require duty payment or are not allowed in their luggage.

If you take forbidden materials across the Green Channel, you could face prosecution and penalties, and your belongings may be confiscated.

What can I Carry to India?

Here’s a quick list of permitted things that can be brought into India:

What is the Currency limit at Indian Customs?

Here’s a brief table for common passengers visiting India and how much they can bring:

Type of passenger The amount that can be brought in
All passengers including NRIs Foreign currency up to $5,000 US dollars must be declared, or traveller’s checks and the like up to $10,000 US dollars.
Indian residents returning from travel using Indian rupees ₹25,000

You must declare foreign currencies exceeding $5,000 in notes or $10,000 in value, including traveler’s checks, although there is no currency restriction for foreign currencies.

How are Customs Duties Determined in India?

When importing things into India, you can pay two types of customs duty. The first applies to customs duty on each item you bring, and the second applies if you bring goods in to trade. Individuals who bring in things that exceed the free allowance must pay customs taxes. This is how it is determined depending on the items’ values:

Charge Amount
Customs duty charge 35%
Social Welfare charge 3.5%
Total charged 38.5%

Importing into India is a little more challenging for businesses. We calculate the import tax based on the item you are bringing in and the materials used. We compute the sum according to:

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