Short film not elsewhere specified imported into India falls under tariff item 3706 90 70. The standard rate of basic customs duty in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is 10%, and integrated tax is 18%. On the export side the same code earns RoDTEP at 0.5% of FOB value under Appendix 4R. Below is the whole bill worked at an assessable value of ₹10,00,000, with the base each levy is charged on.
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| 37 | Chapter 37: Photographic or cinematographic goods |
| 3706 | Heading 3706: Cinematographic film, exposed and developed |
| 3706 90 | Sub-heading 3706 90: Other |
| 3706 90 70 | Short film not elsewhere specified. Unit: m. Import policy: Free |
Heading 3706 holds 41 tariff items in this dataset and every one of them carries the same standard rate of 10%, so within this heading the choice of eight digit line does not change the duty.
Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 10%, the Social Welfare Surcharge charged on that duty rather than on the value, and integrated tax at 18% on the value plus both. Assessable value is cost, insurance and freight plus landing charges where they apply, not the invoice value on its own.
| Rate | Levy | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | Basic customs duty, of the assessable value | ₹1,00,000 |
| 10% | Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty | ₹10,000 |
| 18% | IGST, of value plus the duties above | ₹1,99,800 |
| 30.98% | Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value | ₹3,09,800 |
The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 3706 90 70 a RoDTEP rate of 0.5% of FOB value, notified by Notification 32/2024-25 and in force from 10 October 2024. Appendix 4R is the schedule for exports from the Domestic Tariff Area.
An exporter under an Advance Authorisation, an Export Oriented Unit or a unit in a Special Economic Zone reads Appendix 4RE instead, which puts this line at 0.3%. Which schedule applies is a fact about the exporter, not about the goods, so this page does not choose between them.
Notification 74/2025-26 ran the scheme to 30 September 2026, which has passed, so check DGFT for a continuation notification before relying on the figure above. Rates come from Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE as DGFT publishes them. Work the entitlement on your own FOB value and quantity.
Where a trade agreement covers this line, the preferential rate replaces the basic customs duty rate, and it pulls the surcharge and the integrated tax down with it. At 0% for ASEAN countries, the whole bill on ₹10,00,000 falls from ₹3,09,800 to ₹1,80,000.
A preference is never automatic. It applies against a valid certificate of origin, and the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 put the burden of proving origin on the importer. These are the 2025 schedule.
| Code | Description | Duty | IGST | Export rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3706 10 11 | Made wholly in black and white and of a length not exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 12 | Made wholly in black and white and of a length exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 13 | Made wholly or partly in colour and of a length not exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 14 | Made wholly or partly in colour and of a length exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 15 | Children's films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification to be "Children's Film" | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 20 | Documentary shorts, and films certified as such by the Central Board of Film Certification | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 30 | News Reels and clippings | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 41 | Made wholly in black and white | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 42 | Made wholly or partly in colour | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 51 | Patch prints, including Logos intended exclusively for the entertainment of children | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 52 | Children's film certified by the Central Board of Films Certification to be "Children's Film" | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 59 | Other | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 61 | Certified as predominantly educational by the Central Board of Film Certification | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 62 | Patch prints, including logos intended exclusively for educational purposes | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 63 | Teaching aids including film strips of educational nature | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 69 | Other | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 70 | Short films not elsewhere specified or included | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 91 | Audio-visual news or audio-visual views materials including news clippings | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 92 | Master positives, exposed negatives, dupes and rush prints as are not cleared for public exhibitions | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 10 99 | Other | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 90 11 | Made wholly in black and white and of a length not exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 90 12 | Made wholly in black and white and of a length exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 90 13 | Made wholly or partly in colour and of a length not exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
| 3706 90 14 | Made wholly or partly in colour and of a length exceeding 4,000 m | 10% | 18% | 0.5% |
Bring in ₹10,00,000 of short film not elsewhere specified and customs will ask for ₹3,09,800, which is 30.98% of what the consignment is assessed at. That is not one charge. It is four, and each is charged on a base that includes the ones before it.
Of the ₹3,09,800 above, exactly ₹1,00,000 can be paid with a RoDTEP or RoSCTL duty-credit scrip instead of cash, because Regulation 6(1) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021 confines the credit in an e-scrip to duties of customs specified in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The remaining ₹2,09,800 is paid in cash.
A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹1,00,000, not on ₹3,09,800. How the buy side works, or read what a duty-credit scrip is end to end.
The First Schedule states the duty on this line as "10%". Integrated tax is carried under CBIC notification 009/2025. How the figures in this chapter are checked, and when they were last checked is in the meta line at the top of this page.
This is the tariff arithmetic on a published rate, not an assessment. Goods are assessed by the proper officer under section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962, and valuation, exemption notifications, anti-dumping and safeguard duties can all change what is finally payable. A wrong tariff line makes every number on this page wrong together, so this is not classification advice.
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