Hi All   ,

I received a Parcel from Hongkong a week ago. The Parcel had the actual costs on top of it. There was also a 'kinda of' Customs Sticker on it , with Rs 680 /- on it. The Postman said that the Post office had paid the amount for me, and delivering it and now i had to give the amount back to them.

1) In Chennai, does the postmen collect customs from the people directly.
I thought the customs will contact us directly !! am i wrong

2) What if i want to re evaluate the Customs amount levied on my parcel.

3) Whom should i contact regarding the Customs amount ? Do we have call centers or contact number to dial in chennai?

Guys from chennai, or somebody who had experianced such things ,please share your thoughts.
Just can't bear the thought of the postmen cheating me of my money..

Regards,
Ramkumar G

No, You are NOT. Customs duties are law of the land and you have to abide by them. Always calculate these extra costs like Shipping + customs when you compare LHS price to West.

Customs mays vary form 20-35% on Invoiced Value + Shipping. Tough in my experience, customs have charged @22% only on the invoice value, not a set rule.

In your Case it is 588 Customs duties (inc of surcharges) + Rs 100 P&F (from Foreign customs to your local post office). This might be on the gross value ($27 + Shipping) and not $27 alone.  If not,  they might have not honored the declaration by the shipper and used their own discretion as they know many people **Hugely** under value the items (not a good idea). You may challenge them, but I would suggest that you keep quiet and avoid that hassle .Be happy that the post man brought you the items home, without you giving rounds to Customs office (some of us here have done that, and thats not a Mall/Theme park experience you ever longed for).

Your Postman described you payment transactions in a more layman term , a way more convincing to common man. The Post office did not pay to customs for you in advance. They only act as a 'Recovery and delivery' agent. Something like a VPP - you pay them, they give you your package and pass on the customs duty back to FPO. If you refuse, Customs 'detain' the package and auction them later (if feasible). Even if you miss the postman in the first attempt, they may leave a note or call you so that you can collect the package from your local post office within a week or two. If you delay, little bit more, it goes back to FPO and you pay them additional 'ware house' charges. Delay more,  you may never get your package.

Don't worry, you may not end up paying every time, if you are 'reasonably' smart and lucky in ordering, instead of just blindly undervalue the item invoice (my assumption, please pardon if wrong).

Do visit the local LHS as well sometime

but how much  the parcel contents cost without shipping

Hi Ujjwaana,

I had got 2 parcels, 1 of the parcel's actual cost was 42$ and had it printed on the parcel and i payed 471 rs for it which i did not expect
and the image that you see above is a parcel from Hobby king  which is 20% the actual costs, the parcel looked bulky.. Probably they used their own calculation..    

It will be sometime before i learn when to go for LHS and for which items i should go for importing. 

Dinil,

1st parcel  Actual costs 42$ without shipping charges
2nd parcel  Actual costs 160 $ without shipping charges.

Regards,
Ramkumar G

Going off topic, but would you mind telling what you ordered?

Quote from: ramjin82 on March 25, 2010, 09:56:32 AM
I had got 2 parcels, 1 of the parcel's actual cost was 42$ and had it printed on the parcel and i payed 471 rs for it which i did not expect
and the image that you see above is a parcel from Hobby king  which is 20% the actual costs, the parcel looked bulky.. Probably they used their own calculation..   

2nd parcel  Actual costs 160 $ without shipping charges.

Rs 471 on $42 parcel is fine ($42 = Rs 2000. Rs 471 @ 25% 2000).
a $160 Parcel would be any day 1KG and having no less than 15 mid price / 5 costly item)   20% declaration was way low and the use of their intelligence was obvious.

Happy flying.

-Ujjwal

between ujjwaana ask them to show custom bill which will be given to postman by postoffice!
but till date i have never paid customs 

Quote from: pravven on March 25, 2010, 08:32:51 PM
between ujjwaana ask them to show custom bill which will be given to postman by postoffice!
but till date i have never paid customs 

Couldn't quite get you pravven, but the bill stuck on  Ramjin's packet is the 'Customer' cop of Customs receipt. Eventually whenever customs asks me to Pay, they have always given me the receipt.

I haven no reason to believe that the poor post man gets away with the money. The sum you pay **actually** goes to the customs. The only the P&F goes to Post office.

So if that poor post man carries that huge packet to your home, do treat him well, ask for water, and may be even pay some reasonable 'Tip', which should not amount to 'Bribe' proportions, just as much you pay the Pizza delivery boy

You were lucky that you did not have to go through hassles of the notice being served to you, you replying/meeting up with PAD people and then waiting for your parcels.
And to echo what others have said they will get even with you, you may save or act smart on one or few packets but at the end it will level out

For first time i ordered whole set of RTF from USA (Tower hobbies) i was asked to pay customs of 2000/- ???than i asked the proof , post man showed me some bill given to him by post office !
but after and then i have never paid customs !

Quote from: ramjin82 on March 24, 2010, 10:39:51 PM
Hi All   ,

I received a Parcel from Hongkong a week ago. The Parcel had the actual costs on top of it. There was also a 'kinda of' Customs Sticker on it , with Rs 680 /- on it. The Postman said that the Post office had paid the amount for me, and delivering it and now i had to give the amount back to them.

1) In Chennai, does the postmen collect customs from the people directly.
I thought the customs will contact us directly !! am i wrong

2) What if i want to re evaluate the Customs amount levied on my parcel.

3) Whom should i contact regarding the Customs amount ? Do we have call centers or contact number to dial in chennai?


Guys from chennai, or somebody who had experianced such things ,please share your thoughts.
Just can't bear the thought of the postmen cheating me of my money..

Regards,
Ramkumar G

To answer your queries sequentialy

1. Yes, unless the customs is not convinced about your declaration or has doubts about your legal status to import or on the contents of the package. If they have none the parcel is cleared and handed over to postal authorities with the assesed rate of duties which is on assesed value of the item+frieght+insurance (even if you have not had the package insured), whereupon the postal authorities will deliver the article, collect customs duty and octroi (the 100 Rs you see added on your item) and remit the custom duty back to custom. The octroi goes to postal account
2.If you feel that the rate of duty assesed is incorrect you should not accept the parcel, and intimate about this to the postman the same needs to be informed in writing to customs authority who will give you a hearing and then decide based on merits. The process may be a long drawn one. Since you have accepted the article you do not have this option
3.If you visit the customs site and do some research you will find the correct addresses of people who you need to contact in case of any disputes need resolution.   

BTW, where do you fly in Chennai? Never met you

You aren't being cheated. I have had the same experience, except i went to the post office and paid the money. the same thing happens withoverseas courier companies like blue dart as well.
They pay the customs and charge u for the same with a Rs. 250/- or there abouts service charge.
Avijit

Hi flyingboxcar,

"Where do you fly in chennai"

I am beginner and have not flown in chennai. i fly them in my village near Tiruvannamalai , where we have a big dry lake and Clear line of sight for 3 - 4 kilometers. I own Axn floter Jet and Scratch built "Silent Mite" and fly both of them there..

Now i am collecting items for FPV  1) 900 mhz , 800mw AV tX rX , Brookstone Video Glasses , and Sony CCTV board Camera.
Working to reduce the weight of the gear and trying to remove unnecessary connectors.. when finished will post in a different thread..

I fly at Sholavaram