Receiving Books From Abroad: Is There Any Technical Issue Or A Curb On Freedom To Read?
As per the Wordsrated.com report last year, India accounts for most of the book bans in the world, with almost 11.11 percent bans on all recorded bans. While China and Singapore stand in second and third position with 8.99% and 8.47% of all book bans, respectively.
Recently, an issue has been raised by one of the users on social media ‘X’ about the return of a book despite abiding with the KYC norms. While tagging FedExIndia and Piyush Goel, the user wrote about the same difficulty faced by other researchers and academicians.
I never use this forum for complaints, but since several scholars are facing this this out let me share just how ridiculous @FedExIndia and GOI requirements @PiyushGoyal for receiving books from abroad are becoming. This is crazy regulation in miniature. A publisher sent me…
— Pratap Bhanu Mehta (@pbmehta) September 29, 2024
The user said to fulfil all the KYC requirements along with the uploading of Aadhar, “I dutifully upload Aadhar. But that is not word of God. I am asked to explain my institutional affiliation. Which I do and upload it. Then I am asked to do again it on a letterhead, signed and stamped by the institution, and it should say “INDIVIDUAL IMPORTING FOR PERSONAL USE AT UNIVERSITY” What does that even mean?”
“I have been unable to receive books publishers have sent, including with your own contributions. Several books have been returned. Often publishers review copies are returned (sometimes a publisher will not have your phone number, Half the world does not understand why address is not enough to send anything in India)”, he added.
Some readers see the issue of book bans and returning books as a measure to curb the dissemination of knowledge. One user saw it as a democracy issue through which the government put a curb on people’s reading choices and stopped foreign books from entering the country.
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On a similar line on freedom of what to read, one more user said, “I think this is one way of regulating what we are able to read, honestly. It goes hand in hand with the difficulty of renewing subscriptions to foreign publications. Which in turn, mirrors the limitations on what we can print, read, and say within India.”
The books sometimes get returned even after multiple KYC documentations, one user reported. A user said that the process used to be simpler earlier, but now it has become so complex and convoluted that she has asked hers to stop sending books from abroad. Apart from the regulations, GST imposed on bringing books also seems suspicious, she added. Notably, in the 2019-2020 budget, a 5% import duty was imposed on foreign-made books.
However, responding to the social media post, FedExIndia asked the user, “We regret the inconvenience, please DM us your email id, contact number, and AWB number, so that we can investigate and get back to you.”
