Nepal duty checks hit border bazaars from Dharchula to Darjeeling, spark protests

NEW DELHI: Nepal’s Balendra Shah-led new govt’s stricter enforcement of customs duty of up to 80% on goods worth over Nepali Rs 100 (Rs 63) bought from Indian markets has cut Nepali footfall in border bazaars from Dharchula to Darjeeling, squeezed Indian traders and made routine purchases costlier for families across Nepal’s border districts. It has also now triggered protests along the 1,750km open border.

While some opposition parties have called the decision an “unofficial blockade” of Indian goods, a member of Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party has also said the move is “impractical”.

For decades, Nepali families crossed into India for groceries, medicines, clothes, utensils, mobile accessories and wedding goods, while Indian shopkeepers, porters, rickshaw-pullers, transporters and small vendors built their earnings around that flow. The border is still open, but every shopping bag now comes with a calculation: whether it has crossed the Rs 100 mark.

The move has sharpened anger because Nepal’s land-border rule leaves little room for ordinary shoppers, unlike broader personal-use allowances in air travel regimes.

The rule itself is not new. What changed, traders and border residents said, was its strict enforcement around Nepali New Year last week, when Nepal-side checkpoints began insisting on customs duty on even small consignments. Depending on the item, the levy ranges from 5% to 80%. At several border points, Nepal’s security personnel have been making loudspeaker announcements: “No exemption will be given to civilians, govt employees or NGO workers. Customs duty must be paid on Indian goods worth more than Rs 100.”

Kathmandu has framed the checks as an attempt to curb revenue leakage and illegal imports after complaints that purchases from Indian markets had slowed local business and hurt revenue. Punya Bikram Khadka, information officer at Nepal department of customs, had earlier said duty would be charged on goods above Rs 100 brought from Indian border markets, including for personal use. “We will be strict from now onwards,” he said.

Nepali Congress has demanded immediate withdrawal of the move, calling it “anti-people and insensitive” amid inflation. The party said the decision would hit low-income households in border districts that rely on cheaper Indian goods.

Rajiv Jha, of Rastriya Swatantra Party and chairman of Open Border Dialogue Group, said India and Nepal shared social, cultural, religious and familial ties. “Setting a limit of 100 rupees in today’s era of inflation is extremely low and impractical. The govt must review this immediately,” Jha said. “There should be a clear distinction between simple gifts brought by a daughter visiting from her maternal home and goods for commercial purposes. Food items should be exempt from customs.”

Binay Yadav, chairman of Rastriya Ekta Dal, called the move an “undeclared blockade”. “This step is against provisions of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty. The government should immediately remove the customs limit for household items and instruct security personnel to behave in a citizen-friendly manner,” he said, warning of a larger protest across the Indo-Nepal border region if the directive was not rolled back.

In Banbasa, Uttarakhand, Bharat Singh Bhandari, chairman of Banbasa traders’ union, said the change was visible within days. “Business has been affected. Nepali customers are buying fewer goods and in smaller quantities. More than 50 Nepali citizens earlier carried goods worth around Rs 60 lakh into Nepal by cycle every day, but that movement has fallen after checks tightened.”

The strain is visible in Uttarakhand’s Dharchula and Tanakpur, too, where traders said customers who once bought monthly ration baskets now split purchases, buy only urgent items or return without shopping after being warned of duty across the border. In UP, the impact extends through Sonauli-Belahiya, Rupaidiha-Nepalgunj and Barhni-Krishnanagar, among the busiest corridors between the two countries. Traders in Sonauli said buyers from Bhairahawa, Butwal and nearby settlements earlier came several times a week, but many now restrict visits or purchases.

In Bihar, Jogbani, Raxaul and smaller haats have also slowed. Traders said the timing was poor because the wedding season usually brings buyers from Nepal. Nearly 50 rural markets along the border have felt the impact as customers avoid queues, inspections and additional charges. Ramesh Poddar, a shopkeeper in Jogbani, said the Rs 100 ceiling was unrealistic for normal household shopping. “Even buying a kilo of good tea or a few packets of biscuits crosses the limit. After that, people are forced to stand in long queues for hours to pay duty,” he said.