New baggage rules spell trouble for returnees

Many Bangladeshis were on their way home from abroad with two gold bars each weighing 117 grams as per the permitted limit in the beginning of June.

Many Bangladeshis were on their way home from abroad with two gold bars each weighing 117 grams as per the permitted limit in the beginning of June.   

They opted for gold bars instead of foreign currencies because price differences would earn them Tk 300,000 or more, a good amount amid high living costs.  

The limit on gold bars, however, changed when they were mid-air as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal announced in the national budget that passengers will not be allowed to bring more than 117 grams of gold. 

The duty to bring gold has also been doubled to Tk 4,000 per Bhori, or 11.664 grams. 

Although the budget proposals come into effect from Jul 1 after their passage in parliament, new taxes become effective immediately. 

So, any quantity of gold bars or gold pieces in excess of the stipulated amount, which is 117 grams now, is liable to confiscation in accordance with the Customs Act, 1969. 

The authorities seized one 117 gram gold bar from 320 passengers each in the three days after Kamal's announcement. 

The returnees are now frequenting the Dhaka Customs House with the hope that the authorities will be kind and release their gold.    

Customs officials, however, said their hands are tied due to the new baggage rules. 

They contacted the National Board of Revenue, which thinks these gold bars can be returned with some fines as the returnees were unaware of the new rules. 

One of the returnees, Abdul Momen, worked in a motor parts company in Saudi Arabia for six years. 

The native of Mymensingh had returned home in the beginning of 2023, but did not get his job back when he travelled back to the Gulf kingdom in May. 

He then decided to return home permanently and open a business by bringing and selling two gold bars, each weighing 117 grams. 

He bought the bars in Saudi Arabia at 55,000 riyal, or around Tk 1.6 million at the current rate of exchange. In Bangladesh, he would get more than Tk 1.9 million. 

His flight left at 3am local time on Jun 1 when Kamal was yet to present the proposed budget. 

But when the plane arrived, it was 11:30pm in Dhaka, which meant one of the gold bars brought by Momen became illegal. 

He accepted the 100 percent rise in duty to bring gold, but was shocked when he was told that one of the bars would be seized. 

After a brief altercation, customs officials kept his passport and one bar. 

Momen was among 107 passengers who had one of their gold bars seized on that day. In the next two days, gold from 223 more passengers were seized. 

Momen has visited the Dhaka Customs House several times to get his gold bar released, but to no avail.

Several other people like Momen visited the office on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

“Everything was done following the rules,” said Syed Mukaddes Hossain, a Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Customs House. 

Another Deputy commissioner of customs said they believe the government should consider the cases of the passengers who were unaware of the new baggage rules. 

A member of the NBR agreed. “Customs officials have some judicial powers. They can release these bars upon payment of taxes or fines if they think this is right.”