Indian customs, in plain words

Your boxes are unaccompanied baggage

When your boxes travel without you, Indian customs treats them as unaccompanied baggage under the Baggage Rules, 2026. That is the same set of rules that applies to the bags you carry on the plane, with two extra conditions about timing.

Timing: the boxes may arrive in India up to two months before you land, or be sent from Malaysia within one month after you land. Every batch window on this site is planned to fit that.

Our licensed customs broker files the declaration (Form CBD-II) on your behalf. You do not have to be at the port.

What is duty free

Used personal effects: clothes, shoes, bedding, kitchen items you have been using, your textbooks and notes, your laptop and phone in use, your stethoscope and instruments. These are cleared free of duty with no value limit, as long as they are yours, used, and not in commercial quantity.

If you have lived abroad for two years or more, transfer of residence adds a duty-free allowance of INR 7,50,000 for personal and household articles, one unit each of listed items such as a TV, a laptop or an appliance. The catch: no more than six months in India in the two years before you return. Count your holidays.

What can attract duty

New items still in their box, a second laptop, a new phone, a TV, new appliances and anything bought as gifts. The general duty-free allowance of INR 75,000 applies only to bags you carry yourself, not to boxes sent separately.

Duty on dutiable items in baggage is a flat 35% of the assessed value. There is no surcharge and no GST on baggage. The receiver pays it at clearance if it is charged. We declare honestly and we never promise a customs outcome.

Documents you keep ready

• Passport bio page, and after you land, the arrival stamp page or your boarding pass (proof you arrived).
• Flight ticket for your journey home.
• Packing list with declared values (we prepare it with you on packing day; you sign it).
• Authority letter for the customs broker (we prepare it; you sign it).
• Receiver's ID and address proof (Aadhaar or PAN plus address) for delivery and customs KYC.
• Course completion letter or final-year ID (optional, helps if transfer of residence is claimed).
• Receipts for anything new you declared.

At Chennai

Sea boxes arrive at a container freight station in Chennai, where the batch is unloaded and held until customs clears it. The broker files CBD-II, a customs officer may examine the boxes, any duty is paid, and the boxes are released to Delhivery. This normally takes a few working days. If customs asks for anything, we message you the same day.

Air boxes land at Chennai or Bangalore airport cargo and follow the same declaration with a shorter wait.

Things students get wrong

• "Customs charges duty on used textbooks." No. Used books are personal effects and are duty free.
• "I must be at the port." No. An authorised person or Customs Broker can file and clear for you.
• "Sending by courier is the same." No. Courier shipments are cleared under different rules and can be charged duty on used items. We ship as cargo and clear as your baggage.