Passenger Baggage Rules:
In pursuance of the powers conferred under section 79 of the Customs Act, the Government has passed the Baggage Rules 1998. The content of the Baggage Rules, 1998 can be explained briefly as under:
Tourist: This means a person not normally resident in India who enters India for a stay of not more than six months for legitimate non-immigrant purposes such as touring, recreation, sports, health, family reasons, study, religious pilgrimage or business.
On arrival in India such a person shall be entitled to duty free clearance of his bonafide baggage to the following extent: [Appendix “E‟ read with rule 7]
| Class of Tourist | Articles allowed free of duty |
| (a) Tourists of Indian origin coming to India other than tourists of Indian origin coming by prescribed land routes. | (i) used personal effects and travel souvenirs, if –
(a) these goods are for personal use of the tourist, and (b) these goods, other than those consumed during the stay in India, are re-exported when the tourist leaves India for a foreign destination. (ii) articles as allowed to be cleared under rule 3 or rule 4. |
| (b) Tourists of foreign origin, other than those of Pakistani origin coming from Pakistan, coming to India by air. | (i) used personal effects
(ii) articles other than those mentioned in Annexure I up to a value of ` 8000 for personal use of the tourist or as gifts and travel souvenirs if these are carried on the person or in the accompanied baggage of the passenger. |
| (c) Tourists – (i) of Pakistani origin coming from Pakistan other than by land routes;
(ii) of Pakistani origin or foreign tourists coming by land routes as specified in Annexure IV; (iii) of Indian origin coming by prescribed land routes. |
(i) used personal effects
(ii) articles other than those mentioned in Annexure-I up to a value of ` 6000 for personal use of the tourist or as gifts and travel souvenirs if these are carried on the person or in the accompanied baggage of the passenger. |
Passengers other than tourists: The basic allowance to such passengers consists of
(a) Used personal effects, excluding jewellery required for satisfying daily necessities of life.
(b) Other articles which are carried on the person or in his accompanying baggage.
There is no value limit for used personal daily necessities of life. However there is a value limit in respect of other articles of baggage (apart from the goods mentioned in Annexure -1) as categorized according to age of the passenger, country from which they returning and the number of days of stay abroad. The different allowances are tabulated below:
| Sl. No. | Country coming from | Age of the Passenger | Duration of Stay | Value Limit |
| I | Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar or China | 10 Yrs. or more | More than 3 days | ` 6,000/- |
| -do- | upto 10 yrs. | -do- | ` 1,500/- | |
| II | Countries other than Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar or China | 10 Yrs. or more | More than 3 days | ` 45,000/- |
| -do- | -do- | 3 days or less | ` 17,500 /- | |
| -do- | Upto 10 yrs. | More than 3 days | ` 17,500 /- | |
| -do- | 3 days or less | ` 3,000/- |
It may be noted that these free allowances are per individual passenger only and shall not be allowed to be pooled with other passengers.
Additional allowances to professionals of Indian origin: If the non-tourist passenger, is of Indian origin who was engaged in his profession abroad, on his return to India he shall be entitled to duty free allowances in addition to those mentioned above at varying scales depending upon the duration of stay abroad. The additional allowances consists of
(i) used household articles and
(ii) professional equipment in use and belonging to the passenger.
Professional equipment has been defined to mean portable equipment, instruments, apparatus and appliance as are required in his profession like a carpenter, a plumber, a welder, a mason and the like and shall not include items of common use, such as cameras, cassette recorders, dictaphones, personal computers, typewriters and other similar articles
This additional allowance may be tabulated as follows:
| Sl. No. | Duration of Stay | Used house hold articles | Professional equipment |
| 1 | At least 3 months | ` 12,000/- | ` 20,000/- |
| 2 | At least 6 months | ` 12,000/- | ` 40,000/- |
| 3 | Minimum 365 days during the preceding 2 years and returning to India after termination of his work and who has not availed this concession in the preceding three years. | All used household articles and personal effects (which have been in possession and use abroad of the passenger or his family for at least six months) upto an aggregate value of ` 75,000/-. These exclude articles listed in Annex I, II or III of the Baggage Rules. | |
Jewellery brought by non-tourist Indian passenger: The additional duty free allowance is applicable to non-tourist passenger of Indian origin who had stayed abroad for period exceeding one year. Indian non-tourist passengers who had stayed abroad for a period less than a year are not eligible for this additional jewellery allowance. The jewellery brought by them is specifically excluded from the duty free allowance for used personal effects. It has to be covered under the normal baggage allowance only. The additional jewellery allowance is as follows:-
| Gentleman Passenger | – ` 50,000/- |
| Lady Passenger | – ` 1,00,000/- |
Transfer of residence: A passenger, who has been staying abroad and transferring his residence to India, has naturally been given greater baggage allowance. He is given in addition to the allowance he would be otherwise eligible as a non-tourist, duty free clearance of all used personal and house hold articles, other than those listed in Annex I or Annex II, but including the articles listed in Annexure III and jewellery upto an aggregate value of
` 50,000/- in the case of a gentleman
` 1,00,000/- in the case of lady passenger
This is subject to condition that
(i) the passenger has stayed abroad for a minimum period of two years, immediately preceding the date of his arrival on transfer of residence;
(ii) if the passenger had visited India, during the preceding two years, the sum total of such visits should not exceed six months; and
(iii) the passenger had not availed baggage concession available to passengers coming on transfer of residence during the preceding three years.
However, if the passengers or their family members had taken jewellery out of India at the time of their departure from India, they would be given duty free clearance thereof, if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs that the same has been taken out of India. Therefore, all passengers are advised to obtain jewellery Export Certificate from the Customs authority at the port of export/departure in respect of such jewellery. Further, jewellery which is normally worn is treated as “personal effects” and is exempt from duty even if export certificate is not issued.