Govt Bans Import Of Duty-Free Chinese Gifts; Big Blow To Club Factory, AliExpress?
Chinese e-commerce companies have another thing coming their way – the Government of India has announced that the provision of duty free gifts and samples imported from abroad will no longer be allowed.
Earlier, e-commerce companies were allowed to import gifts and free samples into India without paying any duty. Club Factory, Shein and AliExpress are some of the major Chinese e-commerce platforms who have been exploiting this rule and sending a lot of stuff into India labelling them as gifts to escape paying customs duty.
Here’s how the new rule by the Indian Government will affect the e-commerce companies!
Chinese E-Commerce No Longer Allowed To Send Duty Free ‘Gifts’
Misconduct of Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Club Factory, Shein and AliExpress is quite rampant in India, and the Government of India has previously indicated that they will be taking action against these companies.
These companies have been allowed to import products that classified as gifts and those that were under Rs. 5000 into India without having to pay the customs duty fee. However, they have been making misuse of this freebie given to them and they have been sending a lot of products under the tag of gifts and samples.
It came to the Government’s notice that there was a huge number of products that were being imported from China into India under the disguise of ‘gifts’ and were being transported directly to customers.
An expert revealed, “Earlier, there was no duty on such gifts and Chinese websites were misusing this gift arbitrage the most. Now they will have to pay customs duty.”
Government Of India Bans Import of Gifts
But this misbehaviour stops now. The Govt of India has revised the paragraph of Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, wherein the Government has prohibited importing goods including those that are purchased from e-commerce portals.
The Government has also declared that containers that sought customs as gifts are totally banned. This excludes life-saving drugs, medicines and Rakhis, but not Rakhi-related gifts.
However, the import of goods as gifts is allowed, if the customs duty is paid in full. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said, “Import of goods as gifts with payment of full applicable duties is allowed.”
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