New Indian Customs Forms for All Passengers in 2014

HOUSTON: According to press reports, with the new year, new rules are in store for travelers to India. All passengers will have to fill in a new customs form on their arrival but returning Indians will no longer have to fill out immigration forms. Indians will only have to fill in the immigration form when they leave the country.
“The new forms will be different and separate from the detachable perforated strip which has been part of the immigration card so far”, reported Homi Davier of Xpert Tours as he made bookings for other clients from his office in Little India at 5663 Hillcroft next to Raja Sweets. “New items have been added for declaration of duty as well as a new list of prohibited goods”.
For the first time, travelers will have to declare any prohibited articles, gold jewelry (over the free allowance), gold bullion and Indian currency exceeding Rs 7,500 (about $120). Passengers will also have to give details of countries visited in the past six days and mention their passport numbers.
Retained in the new form will be declaration of satellite phones, foreign currency exceeding $5,000 or equivalent, aggregate value of foreign exchange including currency exceeding $10,000 or equivalent, meat, meat products, dairy products, fish or poultry products and seeds, plants, fruits, flowers and other planting material. Passengers will also have to give details of baggage being carried by them in a separate column instead of pieces of hand baggage and checked in baggage separately.
Among the prohibited items are maps and literature where Indian external boundaries have been shown incorrectly, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, goods violating any of the legally enforceable intellectual property rights and wildlife products. Counterfeit currency notes or coin or fake currency notes and specified live birds and animals are also prohibited for import by passengers.
Passengers of Indian origin and foreigners over 10 years of age residing in India and coming from Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and China are eligible for duty free allowance of Rs 6,000 (about $97); while those coming from other countries are allowed a duty free allowance of Rs 35,000 (about $565).
Foreign tourists get a duty free allowance of Rs 8,000 ($129). Indian passengers, who have been residing abroad for over one year, can bring in gold jewelry worth Rs 50,000 ($806) for men and Rs 100,000 ($1,612) for women without paying any import duty.
All passengers 18 years and above will be able to bring in up to two liters of liquor or wine, 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or 250 gms of tobacco as well as bring one laptop or note book without customs duty.
Customs duty is levied at 36.05 per cent on the value of dutiable goods that is in excess of the duty free allowance.
Officials said that the separate forms will ensure quick and timely filtering of collected information about passengers and avoid duplication of data as well as check on duty frauds and cases of under-valuation, as well as keep a record of gold jewelry and bullion being brought into the country.