Gold chains, rings a customs issue at airports

Kozhikode: Walking out through the green channel of any airport in the country wearing even a single gold chain or ring could invite trouble from customs officials.
Thanks to an age-old duty exemption limit fixed by the Union finance ministry, customs officials can intercept and ask you to pay customs duty if women are found wearing gold jewellery worth over Rs 20,000 or in the case of men Rs 10,000. Going by the existing gold price, the women of world's most gold crazy nation can bring into country only 7.1 gm of gold ornaments duty free. For men, the limit is a paltry 3.5 gm.
Though the Indian Custom Baggage Rules of 1998 were amended by the finance ministry in 2006, the limits for duty-free jewellery imports were left untouched. Adding to the woes of the passengers, the Centre in its last budget revised the duty rates for excess gold carried in person from Rs 750 per 10 gm to the ad valorem rate of 10% of the value of the ornaments plus 3% of the duty as education cess.
27/06/12 KR Rajeev/Times of India

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Categories: airports Jun 2012