BIS has something to do with Indian Industrial Standards. I am assuming this is Delhi Foreign Post since they have been anal retentive about all my shipments in November. My shipment worth $800 got stuck there and I had to personally go there to get it cleared. Now shipments are flagged with BIS in two circumstances - a) Electronics like phones, tablets, laptops, computer components etc. and b) Toys and figurines that contain plastic and die cast. Basically anything that supposedly doesn't meet the *arbitrary* Industrial Standards here.
This is first hand knowledge coming straight from the mouth of the Superintendent there. From what I gathered in my time waiting for my shipments to get cleared they disregard any value mentioned on the declaration forms. Funnily enough, the inspectors and superintendents seem to be well aware of everything that is going on and they choose to look the other way for most shipments. Also, as previously pointed out in our discussions, anything shipped through an expedited method attracts the attention of the customs inspectors. In my experience I've been hit with customs mostly (not all) on shipments sent through Priority Mail/DHL/FedEx whereas First Class mail/Airmail/Small Packets services have sailed past them without hiccups time and again.
How it can proceed from here - a) They might clear everything in a couple of days and you will get your stuff, maybe with duties, maybe without. b) They might send you a notice (not a show cause notice) which will mention the docket number of your shipment along with the reason why they have detained it. In this scenario you will have to make a personal appearance at the Foreign Post Head Office near ITO, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi, carrying with you printed copies of your credit card/paypal statements and bill of purchase. They will ask for an Importers Code number in that notice but you don't need it if you don't run a shop and intend to resell the contents of the shipment. Jut tell them that you have purchased those items for your personal collection and you don't mean to sell them further. They will then make you wait for a few hours while they dig out your shipment from the piles and piles of detained packages and process it. Once they clear everything they will tell you how much duties you will have to pay when you receive the package through the mail. Yes, they won't hand it over to you right then and you will have to wait for the postman to bring it to you.
Any more doubts? You know how to contact me. Cheers!
