Tuesday, August 20, 2013: Air travelers will no longer be able to bring duty free flat screen televisions in the country. The Indian Government has banned the duty free import of the product in an effort to save the Rupee, which has now declined below 63 units as compared to the US Dollar. According to the notification, the government has decided not to allow the import of flat panel televisions including LED / LCD / Plasma as part of free baggage for international air travelers. This notification will be effective starting 26 August, 2013.
Currently, air travelers are allowed to bring back flat screen televisions without paying anything extra they normally would have to churn out as part of the import duty. The new notifications would likely mean that now these passengers will have to pay an extra customs duty for this part of their baggage. The effort has been laid out to balance the current accounts deficit (CAD) and stop the fast declining value of Indian Rupee against the US Dollar. The government has already raised the duty on platinum, gold and silver to a high 10 per cent.
According to the finance minister of the country, P Chidambaram, further steps would be taken to stop the duty free import of non-essential products. This would probably affect the overall balance of the rupee-dollar exchange rate and prices would be back to normal. The Indian Rupee had touched an all time low value of 63.30 units against a dollar yesterday.
