Move 2 India - pooled

Can free allowances of two or more passengers be added up (pooled or combined) to bring more goods duty free or pay lesser duty ?
Absolutely not. This is a question frequently asked by passengers travelling with family or by passengers travelling in groups.
Example : Say, for example, husband and wife are travelling together and each of them get Rs.25000 free allowance.

Suppose, a TV worth Rs.30000 is being brought. The TV can be declared in the name of one passenger only - either the husband or wife but not both. The person who declares the item has to pay duty on Rs.5000, which is the excess value over his/her duty free allowance, although the husband and wife can bring a total of Rs.50000 worth goods free of duty separately.
On the other hand, say, a handycam worth Rs.25000 is declared by the husband and a music system also worth Rs.25000 is declared by the wife. Then both the items can be cleared duty free as these belong to the baggage of different persons. Had the husband declared both the items as his baggage, he would have to pay duty on Rs.25000 - the amount by which his duty free allowance would exceed.
So far as free allowance is considered, each passenger is considered to be travelling separately with his/her own baggage and their duty is assessed on an individual basis, not on the basis of a group or a family.