May 15, Kathmandu – The Supreme Court has issued an interim order halting the government’s plan to impose customs duty on daily consumer goods priced over 100 rupees. This decision temporarily suspends the collection of customs tax on goods exceeding 100 rupees brought by the general public through border points between Nepal and India.
On Friday, a bench comprising Justices Hariprasad Phuyal and Tekprasad Dhungana directed the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Finance, and related agencies not to impose customs duties on daily consumer goods through this interim order.
This move came after lawyers Amitesh Pandit, Akash Mahto, Suyogya Singh, and Prashant Bikram Shah filed a petition at the Supreme Court on April 27 opposing the Finance Ministry’s decision. According to advocate Mahto, the order references Section 13(2) of the Customs Duty Act 2081 (2024), which exempts certain items from customs duty. “Section 13(2) of the Customs Duty Act 2081 grants customs exemptions. However, the Gazette notification dated May 28, 2028 (2025) imposes customs tax on goods priced over 100 rupees, a directive that conflicts with the Act. Based on this, we petitioned invoking Section 13(2) and the court issued the present order,” he explained.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance mandated customs duty on goods priced above 100 rupees, leading to stricter enforcement at border points in the Terai-Madhesh region. This generated public discontent among local residents. The lawyers’ petition argued that the practice of levying customs on daily consumer goods over 100 rupees across the Nepal-India border contravenes existing provisions and requested immediate cessation of such charges.
With the Supreme Court’s interim order in place, the government is restrained from collecting customs duty on daily consumer goods until the final verdict on the case is delivered.
