[trammway]

Originally Posted by infotech58

2 - while coming from JFK to Mumbai, i was bringing the same DSLR equipment back (packed neatly in a camera bag) and it included a 80-200 f2.8 lens which is quite big; upon scanning it, the custom official asked me if this is a water bottle , i was stumped on this and could not respond and he let me go thinking it was a water bottle.

Canon Lens looks like a bottle to them ? Now tell me as you mentioned about Mumbai airport I wanted to ask you, There are some friends of mine here who frequently travel via Mumbai airport and they say the customs in Mumbai harasses by asking dollar bills or bottles. Have you also had such an experience ?

Originally Posted by yosbert

I am not sure which airport you are referring to, but I do not think full security/customs check is the norm before exiting the airport (at least here at Bangalore). Heck I have never ever been subjected to any security check before exiting in the last 10+ years of my international traveling experience (this includes Mumbai and Bangalore airports).
Of course I do not know what happens if you attract the attention of the customs officers though, as I have never been in such a fortunate situation yet . But in such a situation, they do not need a security scan to discover your Rolex, I guess.

1. All the check in baggage lands in all the port of entry are passing through xray scanner before the luggage belt

2. All the carry on baggage are x-ray scanned before we reach to baggage claim area in Chennai airport. Not sure about other airports.

Hence there is no chance to hide the watch in luggage or in your full sleeve shirts.

Once while I was returning from singapore, I had 18 bags of luggage tightly filled with multiple electronic and gadgets as we were 6 members from same family was returning to the country. Expect for the flat tv the customs didn't care about anything and we paid Rs.1200 duty. But it was for the TV which was priced in the four digit range.

Originally Posted by Aroy

According to a friend who is in customs, flights from following destinations are checked extra carefully, as this is where people go for shopping
. Middle East
. Hong Kong
. Singapore
. KL

For other destinations, they just observe the passengers and check if they are moving in suspicious manner.

One note, please do not carry any expensive items in the checked in baggage, as chances are high of them getting pilfered. I have a video which shows how you can open a locked zipped bag with a ball point pen. Unfortunately it is 4.5MB. If any one is interested, I can send it by e-mail.

Ok, I consider that as a Tip. So if at all I plan to bring it to India I shouldn't come by Qatar or Kuwait airlines that connects to Chennai from EWR or JFK via middle east.

I knew the video you are referring here, I normally don't keep any valuable in the check in baggage. At the max the thief can take some chocolates by opening my check in luggage.

Originally Posted by kuttapan

Another pleasant experience at Nedumbassery was when my excess baggage landed. Everyone including the customs officers and baggage handlers were friendly and it was a breeze to clear the items and take delivery. Not a single rupee paid as bribe, but I had to pay a nominal duty on some of the items, which I was happy to pay. I think I will devote a thread to detail the experience. Watch this space !!

He he he may be new appointment or they thought the value of goods you were carrying is lesser than Rs.75000.

I've sent a PTO winch(32kg rusted iron stuff from 1950s) in a check in baggage yesterday with my wife who is travelling from JFK to Chennai and keeping fingers crossed as the chennai customs shouldn't create a issue.

[infotech58]

Originally Posted by trammway

Canon Lens looks like a bottle to them ? Now tell me as you mentioned about Mumbai airport I wanted to ask you, There are some friends of mine here who frequently travel via Mumbai airport and they say the customs in Mumbai harasses by asking dollar bills or bottles. Have you also had such an experience ?

that guy might not have seen that big of a lens; it actually is of size of a 1-2 Litre water bottle.

and yes, i have been harassed by Mumbai Customs many times; paying 20-25 $ usually can get one through it (they have a sophisticated mechanism to get this bribe).

one particular incident that i remember: i was travelling to India (port of entry - mumbai) to attend a wedding and had only my cabin baggage (no check in bags) which had a point and shoot camera and a handycam (to gift it to someone) and the total cost of electronics was less than 600$ (i had all the receipts), they held me there for over an hour and let me go only after i greased their palms.

if one is carrying liquor, normally they demand their share in that too.

[trammway]

Originally Posted by infotech58

and yes, i have been harassed by Mumbai Customs many times; paying 20-25 $ usually can get one through it (they have a sophisticated mechanism to get this bribe).

if one is carrying liquor, normally they demand their share in that too.

Good he didn't think the bottle in the bag was purchased in Duty Free shop and asked a share from you

Jokes apart, Carrying a camera as gift and one for personal use is not under customs duty. Why didn't you call the vigilance on the airport?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by trammway

Jokes apart, Carrying a camera as gift and one for personal use is not under customs duty. Why didn't you call the vigilance on the airport?

As long as the value of the camera is within the limits, else you are liable to pay duty.

Another thing is that the free baggage allowance consists of all that you bring, including small gifts and articles bought in duty free shops, excepting those goods which you can prove were bought in India. So be sure of the total value if you are going to challenge the custom officials, else you will be in for a rude shock, as they are within their rights to put a stiff penalty on undeclared goods!

[trammway]

Originally Posted by Aroy

As long as the value of the camera is within the limits, else you are liable to pay duty.

Another thing is that the free baggage allowance consists of all that you bring, including small gifts and articles bought in duty free shops, excepting those goods which you can prove were bought in India. So be sure of the total value if you are going to challenge the custom officials, else you will be in for a rude shock, as they are within their rights to put a stiff penalty on undeclared goods!

Ah

So one should now the entire value of used / new items in all the baggage that person is carrying regardless of if purchased in India or abroad. I'm sure no one will carry receipts of goods purchased in India along with them during any of the visit.

[slicvic]

Just happened to stumble upon this thread today. Boy, i consider myself lucky. Just returned from the UAE around 10 days back after a visit for a week. Didn't know about the declaration that can be given while leaving the country, cause i was carrying with me, a DSLR, two lenses, a high end point and shoot, an iPad, a PSP, two watches. All the above were in my cabin baggage. On return in bangalore airport the checked in bags get screened before arriving in the baggage carousel, the bags with electronics get a X marked with a white chalk. Promptly rubbed it off with some wet tissues before proceeding onto the exit. Was stopped though and was instructed to put one of the checked in bags onto the x ray scanner. It showed a watch, and the customs official was waiting for his palms to be greased. I was firm that it was a used watch, and have been using it since three years. He finally let me off by telling me to get two bottles from the duty free area, for which he gave me the exact change in dollars!! I was lucky that my cabin baggage wasn't screened. Would have had a tough time since both the camera's are fairly new.

[kratos11]

Folks,
Need some help here.
I would be carrying a 47" LED bought in UK through Mumbai airport.I'll have the original reciepts so no problem in paying the custom duty.

However I also have a PS3 which I purchased 7 months back (in UK), do I need to pay customs on that as well or can I declare it as used & avoid duty?

[infotech58]

This time while flying out of Mumbai, noticed a customs helpdesk counter before the security check area and got them give me an export certificate of DSLR items and other electronic stuff I am carrying; took an overall of 10 minutes as I already had a list of electronics I have and their respective serial numbers. Let us see what new ways the custom officer invent to harass me while I return with the same stuff. Will post the scanned image / photo of the custom certificate for benefit of everyone soon.

[sgiitk]

Of late they have become better, bu't as a friend of my father said many years ago, 'They are licensed beggars'. I think I will add extortionists to that.

[mobike008]

In the last few months travelled to US and Canada on separate trips and port of exit and entry was Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

I was carrying the regular rigmarole of Laptop, DSLR, BB Phone, P&S Camera, Blackberry Playbook.

Infact, I even carried back a brand new BB 9900 for a friend from Toronto and landed in Delhi but, never had any problems.

My experience was smooth to the core.

[sgiitk]

@mobike008; Yes I too had a pretty smooth experience returning from Dubai with my wife and daughter-in-law. The green channel was u/s and the first chap wanted to put the stuff through x-ray. I was waiting then a second chap came and asked me if I had anything dutiable, I replied in the negative so he asked me to go. Then a third chap stopped me and asked where was I going, I told him that his colleague had asked us to go. He just collected the declarations, had a cursory look and let us go, but haev heard enough. By and large as I stated they have improved a lot. One thinkg is that unless you are coming from a free port things are probably cheaper in India than abroad!

[Red Liner]

Hey guys,

How does the customs calculate duty for things like LCD TV's and the like? Is it based on the invoice value? or something else?

Getting a 46 inch LED telly from Malaysia into Chennai - and I dont want to run into any roadblocks. Would much appreciate advice.

[zwift1819]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Hey guys,

How does the customs calculate duty for things like LCD TV's and the like? Is it based on the invoice value? or something else?

Getting a 46 inch LED telly from Malaysia into Chennai - and I dont want to run into any roadblocks. Would much appreciate advice.

Hi this is what happened to me when I got my Sony 40" LED in Feb2012, I got the invoice copy from Carrefour where I had purchased the tv and got down at the chennai airport. On seeing me picking up the LED tv they guided me to the customs red channel area and asked for the invoice copy which I promptly showed the customs guy. He sees the invoice and goes through a paper and tells me to shell out about 4800 rupees to which I am like "boss that's too much" (replied to him in local language Tamil). Next question is what do I do for a living to which I reply back. Then he asks me you got cash? Give me 3000 rupees to which I readily agree as I do not want to bargain with him as I was with my wife and 1year old kid. He takes me to a secluded room and takes the cash and tells me to go. I see there are about 3-4 customs guys standing at the exit watching out for passengers like hungry lions and ask this guy what if they ask for a receipt of payment for my LED to which he replies you go I will take care! Believe me the customs guys standing at the exit did not even bother to stop or ask me for anything and I just walked through like I was getting out of a railway station!
Just imagine the number of guys coming in with such electronic items and the amount of money these guys make in a day! It's something unimaginable. So you got to just tell him to finish the deal this way. Do let us know when your back with your stuff!

[simply_sunny001]

so all in all, its really easy to carry a 50" TV to india.
what if it breaks due to mishandling etc ??
any bad experiences?

and how much duty will i have to pay suppose i am bringing a TV costing 1000£ ??

do the airlines charge extra for such big items ?

[ravikn]

Hi All,

I am returning to Bangalore in couple of weeks after my stay in USA for 5 months. Have bought many electronic goods(self, friends) during the thanksgiving and holiday season. To name them mainly
1. PS3 super slim
2. Sony DH830 AVR and Energy speakers 5.0
3. Solid state Drives...
....
few more items

Can I carry PS3 super slim as part of cabin luggage and claim it as personal effects? coz.. the overall cost of good is around 900 USD and I know upto 35K we get exemption from duty. If PS3 can be claimed as a personal item/used then I would need not paying any duty.
Please help. any inputs/sharing your experience with Bangalore customs would be very useful for me.