Shipping TV to India from USA
By: Mona Govitrikar
Tags: Shipping, USA, India, Television

Content Source: Moving Back to India

Photo by Jens Kreuter on Unsplash

You will definitely find televisions cheaper in USA as compared to India. When you plan to move to India, one of the questions is “Shall we take our television back to India?”. Knowing that you will be needing TV in India, it is a good idea to save some money. Here I am discussing all points that you consider before shipping TV to India from USA.

There are things that one should consider:

Shipment Charges

There are many ways of shipping TV to India from USA.

1. Flight Check-in:

This is the fastest way to get your TV with you. You need to enquire with your airlines if they allow you to check-in TV. I know some airlines allow but up to 55″ TV size. Some airlines do not allow if the weight of the TV package is more than 32kg. This may be the cheapest option (for 55″ TV) depending upon which flight you are taking.

Here are snippets from airlines sites (covering only some of the cheapest options):

a) Emirates

b) Qatar

c) Etihad

2. Air Shipping

There are many agencies that do air shipping. It is usually a costly affair but fast and your TV will reach in India in 7–10 days. The cost depends upon the TV dimension and weight. There is a good difference in cost in sending 55″ or 75″ TV. I gather quotes from a couple of agencies, they all had similar rates, here is what I found:

55″ TV: $400

65″ TV: $550

75″ TV: $650

Note that the above rates include TV packaging, door-to-door shipping but do not include any customs duty.

3. Ocean Shipping

Ocean shipping is usually a preferred way of sending TV as it is much cheaper than any other option. However, this takes much longer, 3 to 4 months is a normal time. There is not much difference in cost if you are planning to ship a small or big TV. I took quotes from many agencies and checked rates online, here are the lowest rates that I found:

55″ TV: $250

65″ TV: $300

75″ TV: $350

Note that the above rates include TV packaging, door-to-door shipping with online tracking but do not include any customs duty.

Customs Duty & GST

There are mainly 2 types of costs involved, customs duty and GST (Goods and Services Tax).

Customs Duty:

The custom rates are provided at the CBIC website (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs). All televisions come under chapter 85.

Source: http://cbic.gov.in/resources/htdocs-cbec/customs/cst1920-311219/Chap%2085.pdf

The customs duty on TVs in India is currently 10% (as of Apr 2020)

GST:

The GST rates are also given at CBIC.

Source: https://cbic-gst.gov.in/gst-goods-services-rates.html

GST on TVs in India is 18% (as of Apr 2020, it got reduced from 28% to 18% in 2018).

Overall, you need to pay a total of 29.8% (10% + 18%) of the TV price as customs duty and GST.

Assessed Value:

Note that you need to pay 29.8% on the assessed value (calculated by customs) of TV being imported. The customs manage their own database and they will tell you the assessed value based upon how old is the TV and how much it costs in India currently. That means you have to pay less if you are bringing an old TV as compared to a new TV.

One important point to be noted here that if you are bringing a TV whose list price is higher in India (after conversion) then you need to pay duty on Indian price and not on the actual purchase price (USA).

Note: You need to carry the original receipt of the purchase of your TV to show customs that you are bringing an old TV.

TV Insurance

If using Air shipping or Ocean shipping, it is better to take TV insurance as TV is a fragile item and get damaged easily. Most shipping companies will provide insurance only if they pack your TV own their own. Usually, they pack in a wooden crate so it will increase the weight and size of the overall package and thus overall cost. The package and insurance vary from $125 to $200 depending upon the size of the TV. I would recommend taking the insurance if you have decided on the shipping method.

TV Compatibility

Couple of things to consider:

PAL — NTSC Compatibility:

This is what I found in TRAI site:

Source: https://main.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/finalreom5agust.pdf

The tuner of a TV set has a limited capacity of channel selection. This ultimately limits the number of TV channels a viewer can watch through his TV. The design of the TV tuner matches the TV standard adopted by a country. In India, the PAL B and PAL G systems have been adopted for the VHF and UHF bands respectively. A TV channel in the VHF band (30–300 MHz) requires a bandwidth of 7 MHz whereas in the UHF band (300 to 3000 MHz) it requires a bandwidth of 8 MHz.

In simple words, India uses PAL as a video transmission standard while USA uses NTSC. Some of the good brands’ TV support both (PAL and NTSC) but it is better to verify before bringing your TV to India. Alternatively, you can buy PAL to NTSC converter which can be used to convert PAL transmission to NTSC format. It is easily available in USA and India.

If you want to use TV only for receiving streaming services (Netflix, Youtube, Amazon Prime, etc.) then you do not have to worry about any compatibility.

Voltage Compatibility:

In USA, all electronic and electrical products are made to work with 110 volts however the standard in India is 220 volts. Some TVs are built to handle both types of voltages, you need to check this with your TV. Anyways, you can buy a step-down voltage transformer (from 220 volts to 110 volts) which is easily available in India. Make sure that the transformer’s output plug pins are the same as what is used in USA, this way you do not have to buy an additional plug pin converter.

Note: Running a 110 volt directly with 220 volts power line can damage your TV so better buy a step-down voltage transformer.

TV Warranty

Most likely you will lose the warranty on your TV once you bring to India as top brands Samsung, Sony, LG do not provide an international warranty. There are only a few brands that provide an international warranty.

Is it worth shipping your TV?

Let us take a few scenarios to understand if shipping TV to India from USA is a good choice or not.

Scenario 1:

TV Size: 55″

Condition: New (Top Brand)

TV purchased price in USA: $600 (₹45,000)

Shipping Mode: Flight check-in

Shipping Charges: $200 (₹15,000)

Price of same/similar TV in India: ₹85,000

Assessed price (by customs): ₹85,000 (New TV)

Custom Duty (including GST): ₹25,330

Total paid for TV: ₹15,000 + ₹25,330 = ₹40,330

Scenario 2:

TV Size: 55″

Condition: New (Low-cost Brand)

TV purchased price in USA: $475 (₹35,625)

Shipping Mode: Flight check-in

Shipping Charges: $200 (₹15,000)

Price of same/similar TV in India: ₹65,000

Assessed price (by customs): ₹65,000 (New TV)

Custom Duty (including GST): ₹19,370

Total paid for TV: ₹15,000 + ₹19,370 = ₹34,370

Scenario 3:

TV Size: 65″

Condition: 2 years old

TV purchased price in USA: $800 (₹60,000)

Shipping Mode: Ocean Shipping

Shipping Charges: $300 (₹22,500)

Price of same/similar TV in India: ₹1,15,000

Assessed price (by customs): ₹75,000 (2 years old TV)

Custom Duty (including GST): ₹22,350

Total paid for TV: ₹22,500 + ₹22,350 = ₹44,850

Scenario 4:

TV Size: 75″

Condition: 3 years old

TV purchased price in USA: $1100 (₹82,500)

Shipping Mode: Ocean Shipping

Shipping Charges: $350 (₹26,250)

Price of same/similar TV in India: ₹1,50,000

Assessed price (by customs): ₹85,000 (3 years old TV)

Custom Duty (including GST): ₹25,330

Total paid for TV: ₹26,250 + ₹25,330 = ₹51,580

Observations:

What I observe that if you are bringing an old TV then you can save a good amount on customs duty. Although you would be spending a hefty amount (shipping + customs) in bringing your TV but think of the other situation. Suppose you decide to sell off your old TV in USA, then you will lose some money (say $200 to $300 of actual purchase price). And if you want to buy the same TV in India then you need to pay the amount which is listed in the Indian market (much higher). So better bring your old and big TV to India.

It doesn’t make much sense to bring lost-cost TV with all hassles of shipping, customs, insurance, buying voltage stabilizer, etc. You may end up spending close to list price in India, if not higher. Moreover, you may lose TV warranty.

You can do similar calculations for your TV and assess yourself if it is worth shipping TV to India from USA. I hope the above calculations will help you.

Content Source: Moving Back to India