4 to 6 business days
Our fastest main route. The shorter flight and a single customs jurisdiction both help.
India to United Kingdom
Courier from India to the UK, properly handled
Four to six business days, the shortest transit of any of our routes, and the one where the customs rules are most often misunderstood.
How much does a courier from India to the UK cost?
The price is based on chargeable weight, which is the greater of actual weight or volumetric weight. We compare DHL, UPS and FedEx for your parcel and quote the cheapest. Receiving, inspection, consolidation, repacking and export documentation are all included in that figure.
What it costs
Courier charges from India to the UK
Shipping is priced on chargeable weight. Everything around the shipping is included, so the quote you get is the amount you pay us.
How your price is worked out
- 1Chargeable weightWe weigh the finished parcel and measure it. You are charged on whichever is greater, the actual weight or the volumetric weight, which is length times width times height in centimetres divided by 5000.
- 2Destination bandthe UK sits in its own rate band. The price per kilogram falls as the parcel gets heavier, which is exactly why consolidating several orders is worth doing.
- 3Carrier comparisonWe check DHL, UPS and FedEx on your weight and route, and quote you the best of them rather than defaulting to one.
- 4One numberThat figure includes receiving, inspection, consolidation, repacking, export documentation and GST. Duty and taxes charged by the UK are separate and payable by you on arrival.
People reach this page searching for courier charges from India to UK, India to UK parcel charges per kg, parcel from India to UK price and cheapest courier from India to UK. They all describe the same service and the same price, worked out the way set out above.
The route
What the India to UK lane looks like
DHL, UPS and FedEx
All three serve this lane competitively, which is why it is worth comparing rather than defaulting to whichever you used last time.
Zones matter here
Mainland Britain, Northern Ireland with Scotland and the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands are three different price bands. We quote the right one.
30 kg per box
Multiple boxes are allowed and usually cheaper than one overweight box, which attracts handling surcharges.
Getting this right
UK VAT and duty, the part people get backwards
The commonest misunderstanding on this route is that parcels under one hundred and thirty five pounds arrive tax free. They do not. The 135 pound figure is the customs duty threshold, not a VAT threshold.
- Import VAT applies at every value. There is no minimum. A parcel worth twenty pounds attracts VAT just as one worth two hundred does.
- Customs duty applies above 135 pounds. At or below that figure, no duty. Above it, duty is charged at a rate set by what the goods are.
- Genuine private gifts get VAT relief up to 39 pounds. This means a real gift between individuals. Something you bought and forwarded to yourself does not qualify, and labelling it a gift is a false declaration.
- The duty exemption is ending. The UK has brought forward the removal of the low value duty relief to 1 October 2028.
Worked through
What applies at which value
Consignment value means the value of the goods, not including what you paid us to ship them.
| Consignment value | Import VAT | Customs duty |
|---|---|---|
| Any value, goods you bought | Yes | Only above £135 |
| £0 to £135 | Yes | No |
| Above £135 | Yes | Yes, rate depends on the goods |
| Genuine private gift, up to £39 | Relieved | No |
| Genuine private gift, £39 to £135 | Yes | No |
A gift means a genuine present sent between two private individuals with no payment involved. We declare parcels accurately and will not describe a purchase as a gift.
Where the UK route differs
Three things worth knowing before you ship
Zones are real money. Carriers do not treat the United Kingdom as one place. Mainland Britain is one rate. Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and much of Scotland sit a band above. Jersey, Guernsey and the Channel Islands sit higher again, sometimes close to double the mainland rate for the same weight. If you are sending to any of those, the quote you have seen advertised elsewhere probably was not for your address.
Medicines carry a surcharge and paperwork. On this lane medicines attract an additional handling charge and require the recipient's prescription along with identity documentation. They are not impossible, but they are not routine either, and getting the documentation sorted before the parcel moves saves a great deal of trouble.
Transit is fast, so deadlines are achievable. Four to six days means a UK delivery is one of the few international routes where a last minute wedding or festival order is genuinely realistic. Tell us the date and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable.
We ship with
- DHL Express
- UPS Worldwide
- FedEx International
Common questions
Questions we get asked most
Four to six business days on express service, which makes the UK the fastest of our main routes. Deliveries to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and the Channel Islands take longer and are priced differently, because the carriers treat them as separate zones.
Yes. Import VAT applies to goods at every value, with no lower threshold. What changes at 135 pounds is customs duty, not VAT. Below 135 pounds you pay VAT but no duty. Above it, both apply.
It is the customs duty threshold. Consignments valued at 135 pounds or below are not charged customs duty, though import VAT still applies. Above 135 pounds customs duty is charged as well, at a rate that depends on what the goods are. The UK has announced this duty exemption will end from 1 October 2028.
Only for a genuine private gift sent from one individual to another, where no money has changed hands. Goods you bought yourself and had forwarded do not qualify, no matter how the parcel is labelled. We will not mislabel a purchase as a gift, because the penalty for a false declaration falls on the receiver.
Yes, all of them. Be aware that carriers price Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Scottish Highlands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Channel Islands as separate zones at higher rates than mainland Britain. We quote the correct zone rather than quoting mainland and surprising you later.
London accounts for the largest share, particularly Southall, Wembley, Hounslow and Harrow. Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Slough follow. We deliver to any UK postcode, including the ones the carriers class as remote.
Keep reading
Where to go next
Get a quote for your UK shipment
Send the destination postcode and a rough weight. We will tell you the zone, the chargeable weight and the price.
