Motor Vehicles Policy (1) (I) A second hand or used vehicle(including all the
vehicles other than Railway or Tramway) for the purposes of this Chapter shall
mean a vehicle that :-
(a) has been sold, leased or loaned prior to importation into India; or
(b) has been registered for use in any country according to the laws of that
country, prior to importation into India;
(II). The import of second hand or used vehicles shall be subject to the
following conditions:-
(a) The second hand or used vehicle shall not be older than three years from
the date of manufacture;
(b) The second hand or used vehicle shall :
(i) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than
two and three wheelers);
(ii) have a speedometer indicating the speed in Kilometres; and
(iii) have photometry of the headlamps to suit “keep left” traffic.
(c) In addition to the conditions specified in (a) and (b) above, the second
hand or used vehicle shall conform to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act,
1988 and the rules made thereunder. (d) Whoever being an importer or dealer in
motor vehicles who imports or offers to import a second hand or used vehicle
into India shall,
(i) at the time of importation, submit a certificate issued by a testing agency,
which the Central Government may notify in this regard, that the second hand or
used vehicle being imported into India has been tested immediately before
shipment for export to India and the said vehicle conforms to all the
regulations specified in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 of India and the rules
made thereunder.
(ii) At the time of importation, submit a certificate issued by a testing
agency, which the Central Government may notify in this regard, that the second
hand or used vehicle being imported into India has been tested immediately
before shipment for export to India and the said vehicle conforms to the
original homologation certificate issued at the time of manufacture.
(iii) On arrival at the Indian port but before clearance for home consumption,
submit the vehicle for testing by the Vehicle Research and Development
Establishment, Ahmednagar of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India
or Automotive research Association of India, Pune or Central Farm Machinery
Training and Testing Institute, Budni, Madhya Pradesh for tractors, and such
other agencies as may be specified by the Central Government, for granting a
certificate by that agency as to the compliance of the provisions of the Motor
Vehicles Act, 1988 and any rules made thereunder.
(iv) Import of these vehicles shall be allowed only through the customs port at
Mumbai.
(e) The second hand or used vehicles imported into India should have a minimum
roadworthiness for a period of 5 years from the date of importation into India
with assurance for providing service facilities within the country during the
five year period. For this purpose, the importer shall, at the time of
importation, submit a declaration indicating the period of roadworthiness in
respect of every individual vehicle being imported, supported by a certificate
issued by any of the testing agencies, which the Central Government may notify
in this regard.”
(2) New amendmedments in DGFT NOTIFICATION No. 74(RE-2008)/2004-09) New
Delhi: Dated 30th December, 2008 as below :
(i) Import of new vehicles having an FOB value of US $ 40,000 or more and engine
capacity of more than 3000cc for petrol run vehicle and more than 2500cc for
diesel run vehicles, as allowed under Import Licensing Note No. 7 under Chapter
87, shall be exempted from policy provision of Import Licensing Note No.
2(II)(a)(iv) under Chapter 87 which stipulates that vehicle shall be imported
from the country of manufacture. (I) A new imported vehicle(including all the
vehicles other than Railway or Tramway) for the purposes of this Chapter shall
mean a vehicle that:-
(a) has not been manufactured/assembled in India; and
(b) has not been sold, leased or loaned prior to importation into India; or
(c) has not been registered for use in any country according to the laws of that
country, prior to importation into India.
(II) The import of new vehicles shall be subject to the following conditions: a.
The new vehicle shall-
(i) have a speedometer indicating the speed in Kilometers per hour;
(ii) have right hand steering, and controls (applicable on vehicles other than
two and three wheelers);
(iii) have photometry of the headlamps to suit “keep-left” traffic; and
(iv) be imported from the country of manufacture.
b. In addition to the conditions specified in (a) above, the new vehicle shall
conform to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the rules made
thereunder, as applicable, on the date of import.
c. Whoever being an importer or dealer in motor vehicles who imports or offers
to import a new vehicle into India shall,
(i) at the time of importation, have valid certificate of compliance as per the
provisions of rule 126 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules(CMVR), 1989, for the
vehicle model being imported, issued by any of the testing agencies, specified
in the said rule;
(ii) be responsible for all the provisions assigned to the manufacturer as per
Rules 122 & 138 of CMVR, 1989 and for issuing Form 22, as per provisions of
CMVR, 1989; and
(iii) give an undertaking in writing that the proof of compliance to conformity
of production as per rule 126A of CMVR shall be submitted within six months of
the imports. In case of failure to do so, no further import of new vehicle of
that model shall be allowed thereafter.
(d)
“The import of new vehicles shall be permitted only through the Customs port at
Nhava Sheva, Kolkata, Chennai, Chennai Airport, Cochin, ICD Tughlakabad and
Delhi Air Cargo, Mumbai Port and Mumbai Air Cargo Complex, ICD Talegaon Pune,
ICD Faridabad and Ennore Port. In addition, import of new motorcycles is
also permitted through LCS, Benapole/Petrapole and LCS, Agartala.”
The import of new vehicles shall be permitted only through the Customs port
at Nhava Sheva, Kolkata, Chennai and Chennai Airport, Cochin, ICD-Tughlakabad
and Delhi Air Cargo, Mumbai Port and Mumbai Air Cargo Complex , ICD Talegaon
Pune.(This point is amended by DGFT Notification No. 30/2009-2014, Dated : 10th
February 2010)
[Old : d. The import of new vehicles shall be permitted only
through the Customs port at Nhava Sheva, Kolkata, Chennai, ICD-Tughlakabad and
Delhi Air Cargo, Mumbai Port. ]
e. The provisions of this notification will not apply to the imports of new
vehicles-
(i) for the purpose of certification as per para c (i ) above; (ii) for the
purpose of defence requirements; f. (i) The above mentioned provisions will also
not apply to the import of new vehicles for R & D purpose by vehicle
manufacturers and auto component manufacturers. However, the vehicles imported
by both these categories for R & D will not be registered under the CMVR Rules
in the country and will not ply on Indian roads. The customs will make necessary
endorsement at the time of clearance of these vehicles.
(ii) In case the country of manufacture is a land locked country and the
shipment takes place from another country, the vehicles would deemed to have
been exported from the country of manufacture provided there are supporting
documents to track the vehicles from the country fo manufacture to the port of
landing and from there, to the Port of Destination. (3) (I) The conditions at
sl. Nos. 1 & 2 above shall not be applicable on import of passenger
cars/jeeps/multi utility vehicles etc. on payment of full Customs duty by the
following categories of importers:
(a) Individuals coming to India for permanent settlement after two years
continuous stay abroad provided the car has been in the possession of the
individual for a period of minimum one year abroad.
(b) Resident Indians presented with a car as an award in any international
event/match/competition;
(c) Legal heirs/successors of deceased relatives residing abroad;
(d) Physically handicapped persons;
(e) Companies incorporated in India having foreign equity participation;
(f) Branches/offices of foreign firms;
(g) Charitable/Missionary/Religious institutions registered as per the law
relating to the registration of the societies or trusts or otherwise approved by
the Central or State Government, subject to the condition that the importer is
an established institution and is functioning for the common benefit of the
community, and subject further to production of necessary clearance under the
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976.
(h) Honorary Consuls of foreign countries on the recommendations of the Ministry
of External Affairs, Government of India.
(i) Journalists/Correspondents of foreign news agencies having accredition
certificate with the Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Govt. of India. However, these imports shall be subject to the
condition that, the vehicle should have right hand steering and
controls(applicable on vehicles other than two and three wheelers).
(II) All the above categories shall be entitled to import only one vehicle
except categories (e) and (f), which shall be entitled to import maximum of
three vehicles. Persons in category (d) shall be entitled to import only
specially designed vehicles suitable for use by handicapped. All such imports
shall carry a “NO SALE” condition of two years which shall be endorsed by the
Customs authorities on the passport/ registration documents at the time of
import and by the Regional Transport Authorities when such vehicles are
presented for registration in India. The DGFT may, however, permit relaxation of
these conditions or imports by any other category not listed above in special
circumstances.
(III) All bonds/ bank guarantees executed by importers of cars/two wheelers etc.
prior to 31.03.97, where the vehicle has not been transferred, shall be deemed
to have been discharged with effect from 31.03.2000(from the date of issuance of
public notice no. 3(RE-2000)/97-02.
(4) The import of vehicles (as classified under this chapter ) by Foreign
Diplomats and Other Privileged Persons in this category, who are exempt from
payment of customs duty, shall be exempt from the conditions specified at Sl.
No. 1 & 2 above. However, such imported vehicles cannot be sold in India except
to another diplomat or privileged person and are compulsorily required to be
re-exported.
(5) The import of vehicles namely, Digital Satellite News Gathering Vans (DSNG
van)/ Outdoor Broadcasting Vans (OB Van), as classified in this Chapter, fitted
with equipments for telecasting shall be exempted from the conditions specified
at Sl. No. 1 & 2 above. However, these imports shall be subject to the condition
that the vehicle should have right hand steering and controls (applicable on
vehicles other than two and three wheelers).
(6) The import of vehicles namely, ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) which are
specifically designed for off-the-road sports, recreation and some farm usage
and do not require registration under provisions of the CMVR, shall be exempted
from the conditions mentioned at Sl. No. 1 and 2 above.
(7) Import of new vehicles having an FOB value of US $ 40,000 or more and engine
capacity of more than 3000cc for petrol run vehicle and more than 2500cc for
diesel run vehicles by (a) Individuals, (b) Companies and firms or (c) OEMs
(Original Equipment Manufacturers - who have manufacturing and service network
in India) will be exempt from the conditions at Sl. No. (2) (II) (c) above.
However, at the time of Customs clearance, a Type Approval Certificate / COP of
an international accredited agency from the country of origin or an EC Type
Approval Certificate / Certificate of COP, of an accredited agency from any
member state of EU, including a notarized English translation thereof, shall be
furnished. This Type Approval shall stipulate that the vehicle to be imported
complies with all the ECE Regulations for the complete vehicle. The accredited
agencies have been notified vide Policy Circular No. 26 dated 9.2.2004. (Ref.
This Note update by DGFT NOTIFICATION No.56(RE-2008)/2004-09,Dated : 7th
November, 2008). [Old - (7) Import of new vehicles having an FOB value of US $
40,000 or more and engine capacity of more than 3000cc for petrol run vehicle
and more than 2500cc for diesel run vehicles by (a) Individuals, (b) Companies
and firms importing under the EPCG Scheme and (c) OEMs (Original Equipment
Manufacturers- who have manufacturing and service network in India) will be
exempt from the conditions at Sl. No. (2) (II) (c) above. However, at the time
of Customs clearance, a Type Approval Certificate / COP of an international
accredited agency from the country of origin, including a notarized English
translation thereof, shall be furnished. This Type Approval shall stipulate that
the vehicle to be imported complies with all the ECE Regulations for the
complete vehicle. The accredited agencies have been notified vide Policy
Circular No. 26/9.2.2004.]
(8) Import of new and second hand vehicles (not older
than three years from the date of manufacture) shall be exempt from the
condition at Sl. No. 2(II) (c) above only for jobbing and subsequent re-export
in terms of Customs Notification No. 32/97 CUS (N.T.) dated 01.4.1997.
(9)
Import of new motorcycles with engine capacity of 800 cc or more, by all
categories of importers, including: (a) Individuals; (b) Companies and firm; or
(c) OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers- who have manufacturing and service
network in India) will be exempt from the conditions at Sl. No. (2) (II) (c)
above. However, at the time of Customs clearance, an EC Type Approval
Certificate / Certificate of COP, of an accredited agency from any member state
of EU, including a notarized English translation thereof, shall be furnished.
This Type Approval shall stipulate that the vehicle to be imported meets the
technical requirements of all relevant separate directives, as last amended and
as listed in EU Directive 2002/24/EC. Such imported motorcycles shall meet the
EURO III emission norms as defined in EU Directive 2003/77/EC. (Import Licensing
Notes (9) is added by DGFT Notification No.62(RE-2007)/2004-09, Dated : 12th
December, 2007)
(10) The import of customized Cars/Motorcycles and parts thereof required for the race events shall be subject to the following conditions:-
(a) The conditions at Sl. Nos. 1 & 2 above shall not be applicable on import of customized Cars/Motorcycles and parts thereof.
(b) At the time of Customs clearance, a Type Approval Certificate/COP of an international accredited agency from the country of origin will not be required.
(c) A certificate from Nodal Agency (to be nominated by Govt. of India) indicating the details of the vehicle shall be required at the time of Customs clearance. Import shall be permitted only through such Customs ports as per Policy Condition (1) (II)(d)(iv).
(d) These vehicles will be used only for the purpose for which these are imported. Vehicles imported under this provision will not be registered CMV Act/Rules; nor be alienated / sold to any individual/organization/institution etc. anywhere in India. These Vehicles shall not ply on public roads and can only be used within the enclosed premises with requisite safety precautions and will not be engaged in any sort of commercial activities.
(e) The importer shall be required to execute a bond with Customs with adequate security / surety to re-export the vehicle(s) within 30 days of the completion of the event or within such extended period as the appropriate officer may allow after being shown a reasonable cause."
[DGFT Notice No. 65 dated 8th January 2014]