No more auctions of unclaimed international parcels? 'Return to origin' proposed in Budget 2026

The Centre has proposed a major overhaul in the way unclaimed and uncleared international courier parcels are handled.

The Budget 2026-27 introduces a Return to Origin (RTO) framework for international courier shipments that remain unclaimed or uncleared in India for a specified period.

It paves the way for such shipments to be returned to their foreign senders instead of being routinely auctioned or destroyed.

The proposal, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her speech, is part of a push to ease e-commerce exports and reduce congestion at courier terminals across the country.

“Handling of rejected and returned consignments will be improved with effective use of technology for identifying such consignments,” Sitharaman said.

What has been proposed?

According to the CBIC, many international courier shipments get stuck in warehouses as they remain unclaimed or uncleared.

This leads to congestion at courier terminals, repeated auctions, and higher logistics costs.

The proposed reform seeks to introduce a clear legal and procedural framework for returning unclaimed or uncleared international courier shipments to the foreign sender.

Under the reform measures, Customs authorities will be empowered to frame regulations governing the custody of courier shipments and enable their return to the original foreign sender.

This would allow such parcels to be sent back instead of being compulsorily auctioned or destroyed.

The Budget also proposed a simplified, risk-based customs framework for handling returns and rejected e-commerce export orders.

The proposal includes a dedicated digital return facility that will automatically link returned goods with their original export records, allowing routine parcels to be cleared quickly while only high-risk cases are examined.

This will prevent returned goods from being treated as fresh imports for duty purposes and ease reverse logistics for exporters.

“This will streamline reverse logistics, reduce compliance burdens, prevent returned goods from being treated as fresh imports for duty purposes, and give MSMEs and exporters the confidence to scale global e-commerce sales by offering reliable return options to international customers,” the CBIC said.