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Dubai, June 1: Yes, as silly as that might sound, Indian Customs and baggage allowance regulations – outdated as they are – forbid passengers from carrying gold jewellery worth more than Rs10,000 (Dh655) if you're a male, and Rs20,000 (Dh1,310) if you're a woman.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


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News Network
April 10,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 10: Complaints have been registered after it came to light that the conditional permission to enter the Dakshina Kannada district for non-COVID-19 patients from Kerala has been misused on two occasions.

Police said on Friday that the Patients are allowed into the district after filling an online form and getting it authorised from the medical officer from Kasargod district hospital.

On April 9, a patient had arrvived at the district hospital complaining of head ache. After preliminary check up by the physician he left in an ambulance that had arrived from Kasargod earlier carrying another patient without informing the physician.

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News Network
March 19,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 19: As a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf has issued an advisory to mosques, dargahs and other religious institutions, requesting them to conclude the Friday congregation in 15 minutes for the next three weeks.

"Respected head of masjids and imams (prayer leader) are requested to conclude the entire Juma congregation (including Juma khutbah, salah and dua) in 15 minutes for the next three weeks and avoid using the public mic for the khutbah and salah," read a statement from the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf.

It has advised to ensure cleanliness and good hygiene inside mosques and keep the carpets, prayer mats, floor mats etc clean.

Further, it stated that those coming for daily prayers should be instructed to perform wudhu (ablution) at their homes and avoid using prayer caps placed in masjids.

"Please remove the public towels and prayer caps from the masjids. Sunnah and nafil prayers should observed at home," the advisory read.

The advisory came as the number of coronavirus patients spiralled across the country. The governments are taking all precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus that has claimed more than 7,500 lives across the globe since its outbreak in China in December last year.

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Mbeary
 - 
Thursday, 19 Mar 2020

Doesn't this reflect upon our stupidity. They have lost the whole point of virus spread. Let's pray as per our so called Muslim religious leaders IQ level that the virus does not spread among the hundreds in that 15 minutes.This is exactly why we are losing it.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday launched the ruling BJP's outreach campaign in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Bengaluru.

"The CAA came into being after its amendment bill was passed in Parliament during its winter session with the support of major political parties. It is meant to give shelter and protection to Hindu minorities facing persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It does not take away any rights of Indians," Yediyurappa told residents on a door-to-door campaign in the city.

Accusing the opposition Congress of misleading the people on the CAA and inciting its protesters to indulge in violence, the chief minister said the Act does not cause any problem to all sections of Indians.

"There is no question of taking away anyone's citizenship, including that of Muslims, as the Act only facilitates the return of the Hindus persecuted in the neighbouring countries in the sub-continent," he asserted.

State deputy chief minister H.C. Ashwath Narayana and party's Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha member P.C. Mohan accompanied the chief minister on his outreach programme in some residential and commercial areas of the city.

As part of the nationwide campaign in favour the CAA, the party's state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel and the state's dozen cabinet ministers led the campaign in other cities across the southern state.

"An awareness campaign will be peacefully held daily till January 15 across the state to counter the protests against it by students and other people at the behest of the Congress and Left parties," Kateel told reporters at Mangaluru, 350km southwest of Bengaluru.

Kateel is a BJP Lok Sabha member from the state's Dakshina Kannada seat.

Besides contacting the people directly at their doorstep through the party's leaders, cadres and supporters, the BJP is reaching all sections of society through social media and by holding pro-CAA rallies in all the 30-district headquarters across the state over the next 10 days.

"About 300 leaders and cadres of the party have fanned out in cities and towns across the state to explain the provisions of the CAA to the people and clarify their doubts, as the protesters were misleading them with wrong information about it," reiterated Kateel.

The CAA came into being after the President enacted the a law to give citizenship rights to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians who have been allegedly persecuted as minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan over the last seven decades.

"A deliberate misinformation campaign has been carried out against the CAA by vested interests, misguiding a section of college/university students, their faculty, activists and members of the minority community on its provisions so as to create unrest and trigger violence in the country," Ravikumar claimed.

The ruling party also held rallies and public meetings in major cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Bellary and Kalaburagi across the state and enlightened the people on the benefits of the CAA.

"As social media is all-pervasive with greater reach and better impact, we are also reaching about one crore people of all ages through Kannada, Hindi and English script, messages and audio/video clips in the state during the fortnight campaign," added Kateel.

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