Nepal Customs tweaks duty rules, put Indian border markets in a quandary

PRASHANT ACHARYA, EOI, PANITANKI (Indo-Nepal Border) JULY 22, 2023 : The Nepal Customs have decided to charge custom duty on goods worth more than 100 rupees from people carrying them while entering Nepal from India.

The decision was taken on Friday evening in a meeting held at Mechi Municipality office near Kakarvitta between all political party leaders, officials from Mechi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and officers of Custom Department.

The duty will be charged if goods worth more than 100 rupees are brought into Nepal from the border Indian market from Saturday onwards. It was decided at the meeting chaired by Deputy Mayor Meena Pokharel that if anyone fails to pay duty shall be prosecuted under the Customs Act 2064.

Earlier, customs duty was not mandatory for shopping in Indian markets in border areas. Customs officials claim that this rule will provide relief to the Nepalese market in the border area. The domestic market and revenue targets in Nepal are taking the hit due to duty-free import of goods from the Indian markets. 

The customs checkpoints have been tightened to meet the demands of industrialists as well. Meena Pokharel said that in order to discourage illegal trade in the border market, customs duty would have to be paid on goods worth more than 100 rupees at the eastern border Kankarvitta. 

Meanwhile the businessmen in Panitanki and Naxalbari will soon have to face the pain due to this decision made by Nepal government. 

Eighty percent of the buyers in in Panitanki and Naxalbari markets are from bordering towns and villages of Nepal. The businessmen who already have faced tough times during Covid-19pandemic due to the closure of the Indo-Nepal border will again have to suffer a lot.