Import duty hike: ACs, fridges, footwear to become costlier; Even festive offers to dry up

The duty on compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators has been upped from 7.5 to 10 per cent while speakers and radial car tyres will attract a 15 per cent duty .

The new rates of basic custom duty (BCD) will come in effect from midnight. (Image: PTI)

Import duty hike: In order to control falling of India rupee and burgeoning current account deficit (CAD) the government on Wednesday hiked the import duty on various goods ranging from air-conditioners to refrigerators to aviation fuel. The basic custom duty were increase on 19 ‘non-essential’ items including air conditioners, washing machines (less than 10 Kg), gemstones, car tyres, speakers, plastics used in tableware, kitchenware and other household items etc. The raise in duty will make these items costlier. Even air travel will become expensive as the government has decided to increase import duty on aviation fuel by 5 per cent. The new rates of basic custom duty (BCD) will come in effect from midnight. According to government data, total value of imports of these items during the 2017-18 fiscal was around Rs 86,000 crore. The government is likely to recover a total of Rs 4,000 this financial year from the customs duty hike. “The Central Government has taken tariff measures, by way of increase in the basic customs duty, to curb import of certain imported items. These changes aim at narrowing the current account deficit (CAD)..In all the customs duty has been increased on 19 items,” tweeted Finance Ministry.

Notifications are being issued today. These changes in rates of basic customs duty (BCD) will be effective from 27.09.2018 (i.e., midnight of 26th September/27th September, 2018).The total value of imports of these items in the year 2017-18 was about Rs 86,000 Crore.

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) September 26, 2018

The import duty on air conditioners, household refrigerators and washing machines less than 10 kg has been hiked from 10 to 20 per cent. The duty on compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators has been upped from 7.5 to 10 per cent while speakers and radial car tyres will attract a 15 per cent duty as against 10 per cent at present, the report added. Footwear will now attract 25 per cent duty, 5 per cent up from 20 per cent while plastic bath, shower bath, sinks and wash basins, articles of plastics for conveyance and packing, tableware, kitchenware and other household items of plastics, and miscellaneous items of plastics such as office stationery and decorative sheets will attract 15 per cent duty as against 10 per cent at present. Here is a detailed list of items with their revised rates: (Image: FinMin) However, the announcement will surely be a dampener for consumers as festive season is just around the corner. “The announcement of rate hikes across AC’s, Refrigerators and Washing Machines does not come to us as a massive surprise, as the government has been promoting Make in India and the industry is seen to be heading there for a while now. The timing of this announcement is not the best with festive season just around the corner. We are doing our best to contain the impact and not pass any hike out our customers and make this a happy festival season for them,” Rakesh Dugar, CMD, Mitashi Edutainment told ABP Live. The hike in customs duty comes following a high-level meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week in the wake for slipping value of the rupee and the pressure on foreign exchange outgo in which it was decided to take five measures to curb the widening current account deficit by cutting non essential imports.