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Shipping to Maldives: what is not allowed

Goods for personal use are exempt from import duty up to MVR 10,000 per shipment. Pork, alcohol, religious idols and vapes are prohibited or restricted.

Not accepted for Maldives

  • Religious idols for worship and material offensive to Islam
  • Pork and live pigs (permit only, in practice resorts)
  • Vapes and e-cigarettes — import banned since November 2024
  • Pornography including sex toys
  • Narcotics; dogs

Allowed, with conditions

  • Alcohol — permit, in practice resorts only
  • Medicines — prescription; up to six months' supply with a prescription is duty-exempt
  • Food — overseen by the Maldives Food and Drug Authority
  • Communication devices over 100 mW — Communications Authority approval
  • Live plants and animals — phytosanitary or sanitary certificates

Personal-use goods are duty-exempt up to MVR 10,000 FOB per shipment; each tracking number counts separately. Nicotine products, energy drinks and single-use plastics are excluded.

Whether GST (8%) is collected at the border on personal parcels is not clearly published — do not assume a tax-free landing above the exemption.

Quick answers: shipping from India to the Maldives

What can I not send from India to the Maldives?

The Maldives does not accept: religious idols for worship and material offensive to Islam; pork and live pigs (permit only, in practice resorts); vapes and e-cigarettes — import banned since November 2024; pornography including sex toys; narcotics; dogs. On every route, we also cannot carry anything with a battery, mobile phones and laptops, real gold, silver or diamond jewellery, or anything flammable or pressurised such as perfume, aerosols and nail polish.

Can I send medicines from India to the Maldives?

Yes, within limits: medicines — prescription; up to six months' supply with a prescription is duty-exempt. Controlled and psychotropic medicines need clearance first, so ask us before you order them.

Can I send Indian food to the Maldives?

Yes, with conditions: food — overseen by the Maldives Food and Drug Authority. Check the not-accepted list on this page before you order, because some foods are banned outright.

How long does a parcel from India to the Maldives take?

Normal transit on this route is 4 to 6 business days from our warehouse in Kerala.

Will I pay customs duty or tax in the Maldives?

Personal-use goods are duty-exempt up to MVR 10,000 FOB per shipment; each tracking number counts separately. Nicotine products, energy drinks and single-use plastics are excluded. Whether GST (8%) is collected at the border on personal parcels is not clearly published — do not assume a tax-free landing above the exemption.

Never accepted, wherever you are

These are refused by the airlines, by Indian export rules or by us, so they cannot leave our warehouse for any destination.

Prohibited, restricted and dangerous goods, in one line each. Prohibited means it cannot be sent at all. Restricted means it can travel, but only under conditions your country sets, such as a personal quantity, a prescription or a declaration; those are listed under each destination. Dangerous goods are what airlines treat as a hazard on board: anything flammable, corrosive or pressurised. We also cannot ship anything with a battery, or anything that burns, such as agarbatti and camphor.

  • Cash, currency, cheques, bullion, and loose precious stones
  • Narcotics, illegal drugs, and psychotropic substances
  • Firearms, ammunition, explosives, fireworks, and weapons (including replicas)
  • Anything with a battery, including power banks, battery-operated toys and watches
  • Mobile phones and laptops
  • Real gold, silver and diamond jewellery
  • Flammable, corrosive, or pressurised goods — perfumes/deodorant sprays, aerosols, nail polish and remover, paints, thinners, fuel, gas cylinders, lighters, and matches
  • Anything that burns: agarbatti (incense sticks), dhoop, camphor, sambrani and candles
  • Live animals, plants, seeds, soil, and products of endangered species (CITES)
  • Pornographic, obscene, or seditious material
  • Counterfeit goods and pirated media
  • Human remains, biological samples, and infectious substances
  • Radioactive and toxic substances

Medicines and supplements are the one thing to check before you order. They are not banned — almost every destination lets a personal quantity through in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription. What changes from country to country is how much counts as personal, whose name the prescription has to be in, and which ingredients need clearance from that country's health authority first.

The rule for the Maldives is under Allowed, with conditions above. Controlled and psychotropic medicines are a separate case: several countries want their own health authority to clear the parcel first, so check with us before you order rather than after it arrives with us.

If you are not sure about something, ask on WhatsApp before you order it.

The same list, talked through

Three and a half minutes on what cannot leave India, what your own country will not let in, and the things that travel perfectly well once the paperwork is right.

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