Bengaluru: Vinay Kumar, an aerospace engineer based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, had sourced 700 oxygen concentrators from Germany in May, 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. These, he says, were distributed to patients across India for free.The concentrators arrived during a period when the government had waived customs duty on such imports. Yet this March, Kumar received a notice from the Mumbai customs office directing him to pay Rs 35.3 lakh, including GST over an alleged “misclassification” of the goods.‘Put out a call for help’“The situation was very bad. We were not even sure if we would be alive the next day,” Kumar told The Wire.The second wave of Covid had exposed the faultiness in India’s healthcare system. As hundreds and thousands of families struggled to access hospital beds, medicines, oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators and even firewood for last rites, civil society and volunteers were crucial in securing necessary help.“In a desperate measure, I just put out a call for help on social media. I asked my friends in Germany to help us procure oxygen concentrators. We ran an international fund raiser so everyone across the world donated. People donated to the German NGO [Technik ohne grenzen] and they sent us concentrators free of cost for free distribution and use,” Kumar added.He said that he and his friends coordinated and distributed the concentrators in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and even in Uttar Pradesh and other states. Kumar said that he worked closely with a group of friends who run a local NGO and partnered with shipping companies like DHL, United and Big Logistics.Kumar mentioned that two shipments with oxygen concentrators had arrived from USA and Germany – one in Mumbai and another in Bengaluru. It is the Mumbai customs (audit) commissioner office that has sent him the letter.What does the customs letter say?The customs authorities have written that the oxygen concentrators were cleared through Mumbai’s Air Cargo Complex in May 2021 using a default Import Export Code meant for “personal import”.The goods were classified under tariff heading 90192090 and cleared with nil basic customs duty, social welfare surcharge and integrated GST (IGST), the letter dated March 5, 2026, mentions, adding “whereas all dutiable goods imported for personal use are liable to be classified under CTH 9804”.“Thus mis-classification of the impugned goods has led to short levy of duty amounting to Rs 35,38,945,” the letter concludes. The customs department arrived at this figure by applying customs duty of 35%, social welfare surcharge of 10%, and IGST of 28%, applicable to goods imported for personal use.Notably, at the time these oxygen concentrators were imported from Germany, the Union government had waived customs duties and health cess on oxygen and oxygen-related equipment. In fact, at the peak of the second wave of Covid, the government had also issued an order on April 30, 2021 exempting customs duties on oxygen concentrators imported for personal use till July 31, 2021, amid high demand for these equipments.“During the pandemic, CSOs [Civil Society Organisations] and CSO coalitions provided a variety of services, ranging from contact tracing, facilitation of COVID-19 testing, awareness-raising, provision of essential supplies, vaccination support, overcoming vaccine hesitancy, enhancing health infrastructure and helping to maintain essential health services,” WHO said in a report titled “India: Civil society participation and effectiveness of coalitions in the pandemic response”.Yet in the letter, the department has asked for “voluntary compliance for payment” with applicable interest within 15 days of the receipt of the letter or asked for clarification with documentary support explaining why the amount should not be demanded.“In case you fail to respond within 15 days of the receipt of this letter, it will be presumed that you have nothing to state in your defence and further action shall be initiated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962,” it said.The uncertainty remains“We have sent the reply within the stipulated time. Thankfully I had documented everything. But I’m worried because I haven’t received any acknowledgement or clarification from the department. The case remains open,” Kumar said.As Kumar didn’t receive any acknowledgement from the customs department, he wrote a post on social media platform X narrating his ordeal. A tax lawyer offered to help and told him after reviewing the consultative letter that the outcome is uncertain and the case is still open. The News Minute also reached out to Kumar to hear his side of the story and published a report on the case.What also concerned Kumar is the fact that he saw a Reddit thread where an individual spoke about a very similar incident. A user named u/ayushm4489 had ordered oxygen concentrators for donation during the second wave of Covid. Now, the customs department reclassified his order as “personal user” five years later and asked him to pay Rs 14 lakh.“I don’t know if the customs department has sent the letter to many such people because the five-year window after which they can’t charge any duty will close. I’m not sure about it. But I hope it gets sorted. We were only trying to help,” he said.The Wire has e-mailed the assistant commissioner in Mumbai customs (audit) commissioner office regarding the adequacy of the response sent by Kumar. This article will be updated when we receive a response.