The Tiruchi Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate has requested passengers travelling to or from the country to make use of the ATITHI 2.0 App for faster customs clearance and to voluntarily declare dutiable goods wherever applicable and pay the prescribed customs duty.
The App is an initiative of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Government of India, designed to streamline and accelerate customs clearance for international passengers arriving in India. The application enables passengers to pre-file baggage and currency declarations prior to commencement of their journey.
The key benefits of the App is that passengers can declare dutiable goods and foreign currency before boarding flights to India. The App helps in minimising delays and congestion at the red channel in airport terminals and provides instant access to baggage rules, customs duty information and passenger guidance through a mobile-based platform. It is available for both Indian residents and foreign nationals on Android and iOS platforms worldwide.
Passengers have been advised to declare valuable items such as gold, electronics and other dutiable goods prior to or upon arrival through the App. Such checks and declarations are part of statutory procedures and should not be construed as harassment, a press release from the Tiruchi Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate said.
The release further said a total of 35 gold smuggling cases were booked by DRI, Tiruchi and one gold case was booked by the Air Intelligence Unit, Tiruchi in the last 12 days leading to a total seizure of 7.219 kilograms of gold valued at around ₹10.94 crore.
