Customs Procedure
CUSTOMS PROCEDURE FOR ARRIVING PASSENGERS
In INDIA, for the purpose of Customs clearance of arriving passengers, a two channel system has been adopted:
I. Green Channel for passengers not having any dutiable goods.
II. Red Channel for passengers having dutiable goods.
If you need to declare goods, or if you are not sure whether to declare or not, you must report at one of the RED CHANNEL counters.
If the value of dutiable goods you possess is less than your admissible free allowance and you are not carrying any prohibited / restricted item and have nothing to declare you can walk through the GREEN CHANNEL.
A few passengers are intercepted after crossing the Green Channel and checked by the Customs officers and if required diverted for X-Ray screening of their baggage. This is a routine practice but only a few passengers are selected for the screening based upon front end and back end profiling and also random selection. Some of the passengers may also be asked to get their baggage examined.
Customs duty on baggage is presently 35% of the value of the goods (beyond your duty free allowance) + Social Welfare Cess of 10%, total working out to be 38.5% of the value of the goods (beyond your duty free allowance).
Payment of duties: Duty so charged is to be deposited at the Bank counters in the Arrival Hall. Central Bank of India operates their counter at the arrival hall and collects customs duties. Customs directly doesn't collect any dues.
For elaborate details, keep yourself updated through following links:
http://customsigia.gov.in/sites/default/files/guide-to-travellers.pdf
http://customsigia.gov.in/sites/default/files/bgge-rules2016-ason23may2016.pdf
