Government Imposes Import Restrictions On Laptops, Tablets And Computers

According to a notice from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the central government on Thursday imposed import ban on laptops, tablets, and personal computers under HSN 8471 with immediate effect.

The notice stated, “Import of Laptops, Tablets, All-in-one Personal Computers, and Ultra small form factor Computers and Servers falling under HSN 8741 shall be ‘Restricted’ and their import would be allowed against a valid Licence for Restricted Imports.”

Ministry of Commerce and Industry explains

“The said Restriction shall not be applicable to Imports under Baggage Rules, as amended from time to time,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

It added, “Exemption from Import Licencing requirements is provided for Import of 1 Laptop, Tablet, All-in-one Personal Computer or Ultra small form factor Computer, including those purchased from e-commerce portals through post or courier.” The government also underlined that imports must be subject to paying any appropriate duties.

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Exemption from import ban on laptops, computers and tablets

According to the government, up to 20 of these products per shipment are exempt from the licence requirements for R&D (Research and Development) testing, benchmarking, and evaluation, repair, re-export, and product development purposes.

“Given imports shall be allowed subject to condition that the imported goods shall be used for the stated purposes only and will not be sold,” stated the ministry, and added, “Further, after the intended purpose, the products would either be destroyed beyond use or re-exported.”

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Capital Goods exempted from import licensing

The ministry made it clear that, however, the repair and return of specified items do not require the permit for restricted imports.

All-in-one personal computers, laptops, tablets, and ultra-small farm factor computers and servers that are a necessary component of a capital good are excluded from the import licencing requirements.