The bare necessities

Customs desire to grab headlines reveals how outdated our regulations are.

What precisely counts as used personal effects required for satisfying daily necessities of life? Toothbrushes,certainly. But some of us depend on laptops; others use designer handbags daily. Is it the place of the Indian Customs service the source of the daily necessities phrase to fit us into a neat,austere,pre-liberalisation box? Yet,the confusing rules for Customs declaration at Indias airports remain as they were a relic of a bygone era,with only the numbers changed and those too have remained static for a decade. The rules,as they stand,say that used personal effects are free perhaps the reason that actor Bipasha Basu walked through the green channel happily a few days ago,expecting that her sandals,purse and sunglasses qualified.

If that was her supposition,it wasnt an unreasonable one; but it isnt a supposition shared by the Customs officials at Mumbai airport,always ready to grab the headlines by fining or detaining a celebrity or two.

Basu was eventually fined Rs 12,000,and sent on her way. Why? Because her sunglasses and handbag and sandals were top-of-the-line brands; their face value took them over Rs 25,000,the duty-free allowance for things that are not used personal effects. (A Gucci Sukey tote bag,for the record,costs $1,000,putting you well over the quota with one purchase alone.) The Customs service clearly expects you to be able to prove that everything you own or travel with was not bought on this trip,even if it is something you use or wear daily. The Rs 25,000 limit has not been changed since 2001,either,when it was not particularly generous to start off with.

There needs to be some basic reform of these regulations to take into account the changing profile of the Indian traveller. We no longer travel abroad to greedily buy things that are unavailable here; but nor is it the case that the lure of shopping overseas is likely to die out. The regulations should be able to discern between those that are bought for personal use and those that are being brought in for resale,not a hard thing to do.

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