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Shipping to Nepal: what is not allowed

Nepal publishes no duty-free allowance for courier parcels, so customs duty and 13% VAT apply from a low value. Beef is prohibited and mobile phones must be registered.

Not accepted for Nepal

  • Beef and beef products
  • Narcotics
  • Liquor above 60% alcohol
  • Arms, explosives, walkie-talkies and similar radios without a licence
  • Precious metals and jewellery beyond baggage rules

Allowed, with conditions

  • Mobile phones — must be registered by IMEI (MDMS) or they lose service; a registration tax applies
  • Medicines and supplements — declare; rules for personal quantities are not published, so keep to prescription amounts
  • Drones — licence required

Customs duty by tariff line plus 13% VAT on value and duty; goods of South Asian origin may attract lower duty.

No duty-free allowance is published for courier parcels. The recipient pays before release.

Quick answers: shipping from India to Nepal

What can I not send from India to Nepal?

Nepal does not accept: beef and beef products; narcotics; liquor above 60% alcohol; arms, explosives, walkie-talkies and similar radios without a licence; precious metals and jewellery beyond baggage rules. 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 Nepal?

Yes, within limits: medicines and supplements — declare; rules for personal quantities are not published, so keep to prescription amounts. Controlled and psychotropic medicines need clearance first, so ask us before you order them.

How long does a parcel from India to Nepal 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 Nepal?

Customs duty by tariff line plus 13% VAT on value and duty; goods of South Asian origin may attract lower duty. No duty-free allowance is published for courier parcels. The recipient pays before release.

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 Nepal 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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What You Can and Can't Ship From India (Full List)

Rules for other destinations