Mumbai Customs Office India Detained Our EMS Gifts Post And Didnt Send Them Still.

[anandnav]

Regarding Our Gifts EMS Parcel No. EA843155390CN Detained By Customs Office Mumbai Department(CED).

We had received received letter on 11-10-2007 with subject “Your EMS Parcel Bearing No.CED/BY 16479 /2007 EA843155390CN Clearance- Req. Dated 20-09-2007” from The Postal Department Speed Post sent by Customs office Mumbai. Which was 1 Month 10 days late from date of our post being submitted for Customs Clearing as per the EMS tracking system Dated 04-09-2007.

We even sent fax as they had asked for IEC number and invoice of goods in the post or their details.

But since all the post is gifts no IEC(importer-exporter code) is required in such an manner so we sent the office fax with the original invoice from the company from which we hard ordered gifts explaining that it was gifts for our whole family and friends.

But so far till today 01 November 2007 customs office has not contacted me and also we have not received our big post and it all seems now like they are amending the IEC and government rules and regulations and doing cheating in someways too as according to customs rules they should send me letter of my post being detailed withing 10 days after my post arrived to them but they did cheating by sending post more then 10 days later asking me to submit all documents withing 15 days and that too on their post was wrong date 20-09-2007.

Its clear cheating from the government people we all face in India specially from the Customs Clearing Officers.

I want to thank specially the Asstt. Commissioner Of Customs
Postal Appraising Center APSO, Santacruz-Mumbai India and its officers for spoiling our festivals and giving us trouble.

Kindle someone please tell me what to do or who to contact for clearing our post and also receiving it sooner.

Today I received my IEC number which I sent to Customs office but still no reply from them till now and also my ordered post was really gifts and after receiving IEC number I wanted to order goods for selling them in India as now I only sell goods which are not imported from outside and was working on my social and business website which is to be completed by next month.


Regards,
Anand N.

[karira]

anandnav,

1. Are the contents "genuine" gifts or samples disguised as "goods" or
goods for sale disguised as "samples/gifts" ?
In such cases, Customs will not only look at the paperwork but also
the intention, by observing what is inside, the qty of each, value, etc...
2. If they are genuine gifts, then there was no need for you to apply for
a IEC code and inform it to the customs. All gifts can be cleared without
IEC code. You should have convinced the Customs otherwise.
3. ALL parcels from China (yours is from China since it ends with CN) are
stuck at the Customs Office attached to the EMS centre at Santa Cruz
Domestic Airport for over 1 to 1.5 months. This is because Indian
Importers and Chinese Exporters have been using the EMS route to beat
the system and avoid paying customs duties.
4. For example, our goods (not gifts or samples) were stuck at the Customs
in EMS for over 2 months in spite of all paper work being complete and
willing to pay full duty as per assessment.

If your case is genuine, you can file a RTI Application with the PIO at the Customs Office (attached to the EMS centre, opp Centaur Hotel , near Santa Cruz Domestic terminal, Mumbai) asking for the delay and the procedure and clearing of goods.

As per my information, there are only 3 Assessing officers at that post/checkpoint and the backlog (as of last week) was over 6000 parcels from China waiting for inspection. Surprisingly, parcels from other countries do not have similar problems...its only parcels from China whihc are being blocked.

[anandnav]

Hello Kariera,

well the goods were in large quantity of 14 products of different radio control technologies which are all electronics and these products were in their normal box packing of their particular brand kept safely inside big box which holds them together and not exactly in gift packing as gift packing was to be done by me as it would increase the package weight so the gifts were to my friends and family and also fellow science group members.
Plus I ordered them with bill which I thing could be no problem as I have faxed them (customs office) their all required information and letters but I think the problem is because my packing is quiet big then what I had ordered last time.

Secondly well even though I am under way of making a company for selling goods the products were strictly for my own needs but also there was an intention for them to act as demo for testing so that by next year I could order large quantity's if they are worth their quality for selling here in our country so in a way they are demo products too.


Third if as said by you "ALL parcels from China (yours is from China since it ends with CN) are stuck at the Customs Office attached to the EMS center" and ware awaiting for clearing and checking then they are surely making many losses for everyone and not realizing that even though we are pay always for duty's and charges they are making everything late and not even paying us for the losses done to us who are giving them business too and in everyone these delays to us is making us loose interest in our country county and if I am to start business in our country with such an results then I wont do it at all as it would only be my loss.

Even after convening they customs that it was gifts and sending them invoice they did not reply to me at all and also my EMS post was all charges paid by me and even after I would have received the parcel I would have paid them their duty charges.

I will surely file for RTI after waiting for few days but I guess again for that I have to go to Mumbai whereas I am from Pune so it is in a way trouble some but most shocking was the customs letter one statement which I disliked saying : "The failure to comply with the above requirements (i.e arrange documents and letter or meeting within 15 day) shall lead to action as regards to the disposal of the Parcel/Articles.The said action shall be initiated as per the Customs Act, 1962/Postal Rules without any further reference to you."

Well I don't know what that act is really but I have to say that their letter came 1 month days days later and that too with wrong date which means either they want to cheat and take away my goods which I wont let them in a way as we are very well aware that the customs people sell this goods in their/other shops to make additional profits. And as per their own rule once the parcels is under their custody and detained by them they should send me a post within 10 days(correct me if I am wrong kariera) but if you read the dates carefully you can see that there is more then 1 month and 10 days gap, plus on their original letter is wrong date(20.9.7) which off course is very suspicious as a letter to come from Mumbai wont take more then 7 days here.

So my main worry is that even after paying for better services and charges or even dutys they are clearly not doing their work and stopping anyones post for so long time is torture to everyone.

In your case have you get your parcels and how did you free your parcel in such a situation? and after filing a case with RTI will they(customs officers) make any more problems in future with me?

You are correct that my parcel was from China and this now worries me even more as I buy goods mostly from them and ship them to me always by EMS service.
Even if they don't send my goods will they send it back to the main company or will they sell it to other? as sending it back to the main company means that I will be given back my money which I payed to them.

Thank you for your help really at lest from what you said I have little hope that my parcel might come to me someday and they war with Chinese or EMS service is strictly not fair as this could mean our own country loss too as more and more people like me will someday leave our country.

Thank you again and if there is anything which can be done by my side please let me know for now I will wait and try to contact their office again.
Have a nice day.

Regards,
Anand N.

[ganpat1956]

Dear Mr Anand,

There are quite a few things still unclear from your narratives.

1. Did you book the goods in the name of your firm/company as shippers, or in your individual name?
2. Were they consigned to individuals or business houses of your family and friends abroad?
3. Does the total value of this big box of "gifts" exceed Rs. 5 Lakhs?
4. Whether the goods are of Indian Origin?

All these questions would have been definitely considered by the customs authorities before they decided to block your shipment.

Now that you have submitted your IE code to the customs, the status of your parcel has become that of a consignment of an exporter. You have also faxed them the original invoice and the goods being electronic in nature, it will be very difficult to convince them that they are gifts only and not goods for sale disguised as gifts.

Again if you contend that the goods are sent for demo testing, then the RBI guidelines stipulate that they are subject to re-import to India after the testing. Otherwise the export declaration formalities will apply. I may also add here that gifts of value exceeding Rs.5 lakhs require the prior approval of RBI. Your post is silent on this area regarding the value of your gifts.

As admitted by you, the goods are from China, which have been acquired by parting with foreign exchange. In my opinion, there are quite some areas of the foreign exchange guidelines that are involved in your gift parcel than a mere blocking of the consignment by the postal/customs authorities.

Kindly seek appropriate guidance from an Authorised Dealer to get the consignment cleared, before trying to invoke the RTI Act.

[anandnav]

Dear Mr. Ganpat,

First of all that you for your replay and what you said is answerable by me.
Well according to your question the answers are as below:
1. The goods are on my name only and also on my home address and not company address at all.
2.Well they were from my friends from China who are my good contacts too and were ordered on my name as well.
3. Well total value of gifts is just $84.00 i.e Rs.3,302/-
4. The goods are Made in China.

Well even thought the price is small the post is big in size and also in many quantity's.
Yes convincing them that they are gifts would be really difficult but it is something that I hope they will understand as it was festival season and everyone knows how precious gifts in this period of time are important but I am not sure whether it will come soon or later. Thank you for also letting me know about the RBI rule.
About the value of my post being silent well I must have forgotten to place it here as most things right now are going hard on me but I will right it again that the value of goods is just $84.00 i.e Rs.3,302/- in total.

Thank you Ganpat again and also thank you Kariara.
I am really trying to find and contact Authorized dealer or customs clearing agency but so far no luck and also no reply from any and also waiting for reply from the customs department on the same before going forward with the RTI ACT.
Thank you again and have a happy festival season.

Regards,
Anand N.

[karira]

anandnav,

1. "Gift" for purposes of a Customs Officer is when a person X sends a gift to person Y. "Gift" does not mean that person Y imports 25 pcs (just a random example) to distribute them as "gifts" to his friends or relatives.
2. Similarly, lets say you legally import something worth US$ 100 and give it away "free". The customs will not take this as a "gift" and will still charge Customs Duty for it.

In your case, I think Customs Duty is justified.

In future (at least for the next 6 months or so) , if you are getting anything from China (which is too small for Air cargo), get it by a courier service. It is expected that EMS route will be thouroughly overhauled due to present misuse.
Just be careful (and warn the courier company in advance) about the nature of the goods and the customs duty applicable, otherwise the assessing officer will charge you some random rate of duty.
Even if you do not agree with the assessing officer, please ask the courier company to pay the duty "under protest" on your behalf. This will give you a chance to appeal the assessing officers assessment and might help you in getting a refund. Duty paid normally (not under protest) cannot be appealed against.

For a reliable Customs House Agent (CHA) just have a lok at the Yellow Pages and try to pick on a reputed name / international CHA.

[anandnav]

Hello to everyone again,
Just today my parcel came in the Pune post office and like always I had to go there to receive it and bring it back.

So finally after a very long waiting and hard work all products have arrived
but not in good condition as handling of posts in India is really terrible still.

I would like to thank everyone on this board for their help and support and also for sharing their information and views and specially I would like to thank Kariera and Ganpat1956.

I had to pay to postal department over here 717 rupees I guess its their charges. But their bad handling and late work specially from side of Mumbai Customs Department should change someday for sure and also if posts are late they should cut their fees.

Hmm someone repied to me just now.

Well Happy Diwaly to everyone and this time I will order by other service like Speed Post of Hongkong I guess by that way we wont have problems like such from the customs.

Hmm don't know what to do with this late gifts as most people went on vacations and also order more things for selling in our country for now. I guess I can sell them now because I have IEC number too.

Regards,
Anand N.

[anandnav]

Hello kariera,

Thank you very much for sharing your information and to tell you truth I had paid for shipping charges too and also the invoice was attached to the EMS post receipt which was on top of the box and next to address but still the Customs had asked me for invoice and product details which is confusing me now.

You are very correct about using different way of getting goods and I hope Speed Post of Hong Kong is a good option and wont face problems as its not EMS?

About customs clearing agency well I tried to contact many from Mumbai but no luck like always and no reply.

Thank you for your information kariera its very useful and knowledge full and is very great as well, I guess you must be expert really.

I feel much better now that all things have come and as said by you that it is a just case for my posts being detained as they were large quantity is something which I really didn't expect and hope to solve this Customs clearing problems sooner.

By the way do I have to use IEC number on my postal address to avoid detainment in case the Custom officers again detain my post and in same way will they clear my parcel faster by using IEC number on the post itself?

I think this is something all would like to know.

Thank you for your help really.
Have a Happy Diwaly again.

P.S RTI will surely end all corruption someday and will encourage people to make our country better and for this each person should promote RTI and keep in tough with this system.

Best regards,
Anand N.

[karira]

Do not use Speed Post (another name for EMS) from Hong Kong. HK is SAR of China and treated as one and the same, by the Customs in India.

IEC code or its absence has no implication as far as customs is concerned.
It only helps you in clearing your "large" or "commercial" consignments as well as identify you in the Customs EDI system (common all over India).

[anandnav]

Thank you Kariera for your help and for giving me such valuable information.
So I guess I have to use other private services but so far I have also heard that even USPS shipment is detained for some people, this I know from one user on ebay who had ordered for himself a mobile phone and later asked for IEC number in Bangalore I guess for him the implementation of rules was wrong. So only other 2 options of major services remaining from which there is DHL which I don't know will come across Customs checking and rule and so far other remaining one is FedEx service who has its own customs clearing agents.

So I will try to find out what would be most useful way and also we will see how much time and faculty will be required and whether or not it will come across Customs Clearing terms or not.

Usually most shipping company ask for tax id but I was thinking in same way about IEC number in the postal service.

So as said by you that IEC is only an identity for me to be recognized in the Customs EDI system, so again does it mean that they will actually know me from their records that I have IEC number?

Thank you for your help again.

Regards,
Anand N.

[karira]

Originally Posted by anandnav

Thank you Kariera for your help and for giving me such valuable information.
So I guess I have to use other private services but so far I have also heard that even USPS shipment is detained for some people, this I know from one user on ebay who had ordered for himself a mobile phone and later asked for IEC number in Bangalore I guess for him the implementation of rules was wrong. So only other 2 options of major services remaining from which there is DHL which I don't know will come across Customs checking and rule and so far other remaining one is FedEx service who has its own customs clearing agents.

So I will try to find out what would be most useful way and also we will see how much time and faculty will be required and whether or not it will come across Customs Clearing terms or not.

Usually most shipping company ask for tax id but I was thinking in same way about IEC number in the postal service.

So as said by you that IEC is only an identity for me to be recognized in the Customs EDI system, so again does it mean that they will actually know me from their records that I have IEC number?

Thank you for your help again.

Regards,
Anand N.

1. For "commercial" and "for sale" shipments always try to get the invoice
in the name of the company/commercial establishment
2. For "gifts" use personal names both from and to and qty should be small like one piece.
3. Mobile Phones are on the "sensitive" list and customs watches them with a hawkeye. Probably that is the reason that the UPS consignment got held up.
4. IEC Nr. allotted to you is like your identification. They will also ask you to apply for a BIN number. Inputting your BIN or IEC number into the Customs EDI system will give your whole life history as well as antecedents of past imports and records of any customs checkpost in India.

[anandnav]

Hello Kariera,
Thank you very much again for such and useful information,
So I have to prepare for BIN number too, but I guess all bank details were included all ready on the IEC application form which I used for applying for an IEC number so BIN number must be inputted in their system all ready.

Does IEC provice any IEC cards to its holder just like a PAN card? because I heard of it once while reading some provided rules online which confused me.

Thank you again.

P.S shipping in our country now sounds quiet difficult really.

Regards,
Anand N.

[ganpat1956]

Originally Posted by anandnav

Does IEC provice any IEC cards to its holder just like a PAN card?

IE Code is communicated by way of a letter only. I haven't come across a PAN card like system for IE Code.

[anandnav]

Hello Ganpat,
Thank you for your help and it was something which I heard and didn't know if it was true or not.

[kushal]

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