How much gold and cash are you allowed to carry on domestic and foreign flights? Know rules

Flight Cash Gold Rules: Carrying gold or cash while travelling by an aeroplane is common among passengers, as gold is the most prominent form of jewellery in India, and we may need cash anywhere in the absence of UPI transactions.

But carrying gold or cash is permissible until one is not crossing permissible limits.

Once it is crossed, it becomes a punishable offence, where one may need to pay a fine or let their cash or gold be confiscated.

So, when you are travelling by air carrying either cash or gold, it is very necessary to know the rules.

Specially at a time when a famous Kannada actor, Ranya Rao, has been arrested from Kempe Gowda airport in Bengaluru for allegedly smuggling cash worth crores through a flight from Dubai.

As per the Police statement, 14.2 kg gold bars estimated worth Rs 12.56 crore have been recovered from Ranya, who is the stepdaughter of a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

Not just that, the Police has also recovered her other valuable things worth Rs 4.73 crore from her.

Investigative agencies are claiming that she was a part of a smuggling network and used to smuggle expensive things from Dubai to Bengaluru.

Though it is a one-off case, it is important to know gold and cash-related customs rules so that you may not get caught unintentionally.

How much gold and cash can be carried on domestic flights?

Limit of carrying gold

There is no fixed limit for gold in domestic flights (travel within India), but if you have a large amount of gold, the security check (CISF) and the Income Tax (I-T) Department can ask you the source of it.

If you are travelling with more than 500 grammes of gold, you must have a purchase bill. If you are not carrying a bill, the I-T officer can confiscate gold and may also impose a fine.

Limit on carrying cash

Likewise, there is no set limit on the amount of cash you can carry on a domestic flight, but if the cash is more than Rs 50,000, you may need to disclose its source.

The I-T Department may investigate if you carry more than Rs 2 lakh in cash.

It may confiscate it and impose a heavy fine if you are unable to disclose the source of cash.

How much gold and cash can you carry on international flight?

Limit of carrying gold

Once you travel to an overseas territory, rules can be strict.

Not just domestic, you will need to abide by the rules of the country you are travelling to.

Customs rules are different for cash and gold for different countries, so you should know those also.

How much gold and cash can you carry on international flight?

Limit of carrying gold

Strict rules apply to gold when travelling abroad. If you are travelling abroad from India, different countries have their own rules, so you should know the customs rules of that country.

Gold limit when you are returning from abroad 

The limits are different for children and male and female passengers.

While male passengers can bring gold worth up to Rs 50,000 (in different jewellery), the limit for female passengers is Rs 100,000 (in different jewellery).

Children who are below 12 years of age can bring gold up to Rs 25,000.

What if gold is more than prescribed limit? 

If gold is more than the prescribed limit, customs duty will have to be paid. Apart from gold jewellery, if you bring gold biscuits or bars, more duty will be charged on it.

Cash carrying limit

Cash carrying limit while travelling abroad from India

An Indian traveller can carry up to $3000 (approximately Rs 2.5 lakh) in foreign currency.

If they want to carry more cash, they will have to take permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

However, as far as the Indian currency is concerned, an Indian is allowed only to carry Rs 25,000 abroad.

Cash limit while returning to India from abroad

The cash limit is more when you are coming to India from abroad.

You can bring in up to $5000 (approximately Rs 4.2 lakh) in foreign currency in cash.

If you have more than $10,000 (Rs 8.3 lakhs) in cash and traveller cheques, you will have to declare it to the customs department.

Punishment for carrying more gold and cash than the prescribed limit

If you travel with more gold or cash than the prescribed limit, the Customs Department, I-Tax Department, and security agencies can question you at the airport.

If you carry more gold without a bill, then the I-T Department can confiscate it. 

If you carry more cash than the prescribed limit without giving information, then the Income Tax Department can consider it as illegal income and may impose a fine.

If you bring more gold than the prescribed limit from abroad, then you will have to pay up to 36 per cent customs duty.

If you carry more gold or cash illegally, you can be jailed along with a fine.