Beware Gulf expats: You cannot carry more than 4gm of gold jewellery

[email protected] (Emirates247)
June 1, 2012

Dubai, June 1: Yes, as silly as that might sound, Indian Customs and baggage allowance regulations – outdated as they are – forbid passengers from carrying gold jewellery worth more than Rs10,000 (Dh655) if you're a male, and Rs20,000 (Dh1,310) if you're a woman.

At today's gold rates (Dh183 for 1gm of 24 carat gold), that translates into gold jewellery weighing a princely 3.57 grams for gentlemen and a rather lavish 7.15 grams for the ladies.

India's Central Board of Excise and Customs, which falls under its Ministry of Finance, stipulates that “An Indian passenger who has been residing abroad for over one year is allowed to bring jewellery, free of duty in his bona fide baggage up to an aggregate value of Rs10,000 (in the case of a male passenger) or Rs20,000 (in the case of a lady passenger).”

gold


Anything above that miserly limit is taxable under the Indian law, and if you're passing through the green channel with more than a few grams of gold on your person, well, the officer in-charge will be well within his rights to ask you to pay duty on the jewellery and/or face prosecution for trying to 'smuggle' gold and evade duty.

While Indian Customs are quick to update the exchange rates (last updated May 26, 2012) and now value the US dollar at Rs55.95 for imported goods and Rs55.15 for exported goods, the baggage rules were apparently last amended in 2006 – even though the limits set for gold and silver ornaments appear to have been set some time in last century, if not earlier.

And this amazing 'generosity' in India's baggage allowance is not limited to just jewellery. The Indian government does not allow even its own citizens to 'import' the Indian rupee, even if you are a non-resident Indian returning home for a vacation or visiting friends and family. The only exemption is for resident Indians, who may be returning home after a foreign visit. Even they can carry a maximum of Rs7,500 (Dh491).

However, the regulations do allow Indian expats returning home after a minimum of three months to carry household items (such as linen, utensils, tableware, kitchen appliances and an iron) up to an aggregate value of Rs12,000 (Dh787), and professional equipment up to a value of Rs20,000 (Dh1,311).

Those who've been out of India for at least six months get an additional quota of Rs20,000 for the professional equipment allowance.

But if you thought that professional equipment would include the likes of cameras and Dictaphones, well, you're wrong. “For the purposes of baggage rules, professional equipment means: Such portable equipment, instruments, apparatus and appliances as are ordinarily required in the profession in which the returning passenger was engaged. This expression includes items used by carpenters, plumbers, welders, masons and the like,” the regulations specify.

And as if to drive the message home, the rules add: “This concession is not available for items of common use such as cameras, cassette recorders, Dictaphones, typewriters, personal computers and similar items.”

Anyway, if you still want to 'import' gold weighing more than the allowance, here are the 'regulations' (source: Central Board of Excise and Customs website) that you are expected to adhere to:

IMPORT OF GOLD AS BAGGAGE

Who can import gold as baggage?

Any passenger of Indian Origin or a passenger holding a valid passport, issued under the Passport Act, 1967, who is coming to India after a period of not less than six months of stay abroad; and short visits, if any, made by the passenger during the aforesaid period of six months shall be ignored if the total duration of stay on such visits does not exceed thirty days.

Other Conditions

1. The duty shall be paid in convertible foreign currency.

2. The weight of gold (including ornaments) should not exceed 10kg per passenger.

Although the Customs website mentions 10kg allowance for dutiable gold import as baggage per passenger, according to latest reports, this limit has now been reduced to 1kg]

3. The passenger should not have brought gold or other ornaments during any of his visits (short visits) in the last six months i.e., he has not availed of the exemption under this scheme, at the time of short visits.

4. Ornaments studded with stones and pearls are not allowed to be imported.

5. The passenger can either bring the gold himself at the time of arrival or import the same within fifteen days of his arrival in India as unaccompanied baggage.

6. The passenger can also obtain the permitted quantity of gold from Customs bonded warehouse of State Bank of India and Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation subject to conditions (i) and (ii) above. He is required to file a declaration in the prescribed Form before the Customs Officer at the time of arrival in India stating his intention to obtain the gold from the Customs bonded warehouse and pay the duty before clearance.

RATE OF DUTY

- Gold bars, other than tola bars, bearing manufacturers or refiners engraved serial number and weight expressed in metric units and gold coins: Rs300 (Dh20) per 10gm + 3% education cess

- Gold in any form other than above, including tola bars and ornaments, but excluding ornaments studded with stones or pearls: Rs750 (Dh49) per 10gm + 3% education cess


Comments

Hildegard
 - 
Friday, 11 Mar 2016

Did you are aware that simply erasing or sanitizing your harddrive does not
guarantee that all of your private information is non-retrievable.
Maintenance can also be an important aspect of choosing a paper shredder.

You won't find a better source for paper shredders anywhere on the web.

my website ... NSA shredders: https://www.rebelmouse.com/glenngoldschmidt/paper-shredders-as-well-as-…

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 3,2020

Bengaluru, May 3: Karnataka Government has allowed the movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons who are stranded and also those who want to go to their residence as a "one-time measure" from district to district, after obtaining "one-day, one way" passes issued by concerned authorities.

Consequent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) new guidelines on lockdown measures, the government of Karnataka issued new guidelines on lockdown measures which will come into effect from May 4 for the period of two weeks.

In an order issued on Saturday, Chief Secretary and Chairman, State Executive Committee, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority stated, "In the exercise of the powers, conferred under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the undersigned, in his capacity of Chairman, State Executive Committee, hereby order to permit movement migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons who are stranded and also those people who want to go to their residence as a one-time measure from district to district with one-time one-day one-way passes issued by concerned Deputy Commissioners of the districts/Deputy Commissioner of Police in Commissionerates for strict implementation."

The details of the passes issued shall be shared by the issuing Deputy Commissioners of the districts/ Deputy Commissioner of Police with the receiving Deputy Commissioners of the districts/Deputy Commissioners of Police shall follow the SOPs prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the movement of such persons, the order read.

It is reiterated that this would be a one-time one-day one-way pass for the individuals to reach their final destination.

Meanwhile, three deaths and 12 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the 24 hours in Karnataka, said the state Health Department on Saturday.

According to the Health Department, the total number of coronavirus positive cases in the State is now 601. 271 patients have either been cured or discharged. The virus has killed 25 people so far in the State.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 18,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 18: Amidst the ongoing probe into the multi-billion IMA ponzi scam, another similar scam has come to light in the city wherein around 2500 depositors, most of them Muslims, are fearing that them may lose Rs 350 crore.

Shockingly, Shafiullah, Rafiullah, and Zabiullah, three brothers who run the Baraka Investment Consultant Private Limited, have accused the police of taking over 10 crore rupees bribe from them.

The depositors say that when they recently demanded their investments back from the accused the trio, they allegedly told them that they had paid the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and the RT Nagar police over 10 crores and they could collect that money from the police.

The aggrieved investors alleges that the RT Nagar police have charge-sheeted the three accused only on the complaints of 13 affected depositors who lost precisely Rs 97 lakh and the case is being probed under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 instead of Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Institutions Act, 2004 (KPID Act) or the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019 (BUDS) Ordinance.

Aggrieved victims alleged that when the Baraka Investment Consultants had a Registration Certificate of Establishments from Department of Labour issued on November 28, 2017. The CCB took up a suo-motu case against Tellnet Computers on August 16, 2018, after they received complaints from Baraka investors.

Apparently, the CCB knew that Baraka Investment Consultants and Tellnet Computers was one and the same and operating from the same office, but they did not mention the name of Baraka in the case initially for reasons best known to them, said the victims of the Ponzi scheme. A few victims who wished to remain anonymous told BM that a CCB police inspector and one of the accused, Zabiullah, were childhood friends, neighbours and both hailed from Chikkaballapur. This is one of the reasons, they allege, the inspector has protected the accused by downplaying the scam.

The case registered by the CCB states that there are only 500 to 600 depositors who deposited amounts between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh expecting returns ranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 7000 a month, but in reality there are more than 2500 investors who have deposited amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 50 lakh, expecting returns between 12% to 24%, said the victims. Despite this, the CCB was sitting on the case and making no investigations, the victims alleged.

It was later on in May 9, 2019, an FIR was registered by the RT Nagar police when many victims approached the police commissioner and petitioned him. “Even in this case, the accused Zabiullah was not arrested. Zabiullah’s two brothers, Shafiullah and Rafiullah, and his father Abdul Rahman were arrested, but were later granted conditional bails,” one of the victims Mohammed Yahya (42), a software engineer said.

Yahya had invested Rs 10 lakh with Baraka. “Though this case has been charge-sheeted, the police have not made any recoveries or they have not confiscated any properties of the accused,” alleged victim Habibur Rehman (42) who had invested Rs 5 lakh in Baraka. “There is clear-cut evidence that the accused was dealing in foreign exchange using the investors’ money without their knowledge and was offshoring and parking crores and crores in countries like Russia, Dubai, Malaysia, and Singapore. Though the police knew about this, they did nothing to stop it or bring it back,” said Azgar Pasha (44), a businessman who had invested Rs 41 lakh.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 23,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 23: Karnataka Minister for Fisheries and Religious Endowment Kota Shrinivas Poojari on Sunday said that there will be no shortage of water during the summer season in Dakshina Kannada district as per a review done by the district administration and the Panchayati Raj Department.

He said that periodic review will be conducted and based on that appropriate decisions will be taken.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, February 23, Poojari said that the main source of water for Mangaluru, the Thumbe vented dam, has a steady inflow of water.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.