Customs for medical and healthcare
Devices, diagnostics and trial supplies reach patients only after the paperwork is right. We make sure it is.
- Across our network
- 227+ Warehouses
- Under management
- 75,348.1 Lakh+ Sq. Ft. Live Space
- Customs to storage
- One team
Short answer
What does importing medical devices into India involve?
Medical devices imported into India are regulated by CDSCO under the Medical Devices Rules, 2017, so most need an import licence before they ship. Lozy checks licence status, handles customs clearance, arranges cargo cover and delivers to hospitals, labs or trial sites.
What slows medical shipments down
The usual reasons shipments sit at the port longer than they should.
Import licences
Devices need a valid CDSCO import licence that matches what’s being shipped.
Short time windows
Trial supplies and diagnostics often have little room for delay.
Handling needs
Some goods are fragile or need controlled conditions in transit.
Labelling rules
Labels must meet Indian requirements before the goods are sold.
How Lozy helps
The services that fix each of those, run by one team.
- ComplianceLicence status and labelling checked.View service
- Customs ClearanceFiling, duty and release handled.View service
- Cargo Liability CoverCover for high-value equipment.View service
- Customs Bonded WarehouseHold stock under bond until it’s needed.View service
- Exporter of Record (EOR)Send devices out for repair or return.View service
What we check
Before anything ships, we go through these with you.
Every check is done before booking, when fixing a problem is quick and cheap.
- CDSCO import licence and device class
- Licence matches product and manufacturer
- Labelling for India
- Handling and temperature needs
- Declared value and cover
- Delivery site
Medical imports for Delhi NCR hospitals and labs
CDSCO licences are checked against the shipment, and goods clear at IGI Airport or the NCR ICDs before delivery to hospitals, labs and trial sites across Delhi NCR.
Cold-chain and trial supplies handled with the paperwork regulators expect.
Where device imports stall
Medical device customs clearance leaves less room for interpretation than most trade: the licence, the classification and the declared end use all have to match what is actually inside the crate. When they line up before dispatch, the entry clears as routine; when they do not, every question is a delay the ward cannot absorb.
A licence that names an older model
The CDSCO import licence is granted for specific devices and manufacturing sites, not for a category of equipment. When a supplier revises a model or shifts production to another plant, the papers may no longer match the box, and the fix belongs before shipping rather than at the port, where the options are few. The desk reads the licence against the new details before anything is booked, because amendments move faster when nothing is already in transit.
Classification the whole file hangs on
Whether something reads as a device, an accessory or software decides its licence question as well as its duty. Beds, monitors, reagents and imaging systems all sit in different places in the tariff, and the line chosen follows the file everywhere, from the licence application to the duty calculation. Reagents, for instance, do not carry the same obligations as the analyser they feed.
End use, stated and checked
Equipment arriving for a trial, a demo, a donation or a teaching hospital is assessed differently from stock for sale. The declared end use has to match the records on both sides, because customs reads the goods and the paper together, and a mismatch is a question nobody wants to answer late. Trial material travels on its own approvals, and a donation carries an end-use statement that has to survive scrutiny.
Accessories riding along
A scanner arrives with probes, a cart, a UPS and consumables on one invoice. Some items are parts, some are devices in their own right, and a single import file that treats the whole crate as one item usually comes apart at examination.
Refurbished units on their own record
A refurbished machine is judged on what it is now: its condition, its model and the approval it moves under. That file takes longer to assemble than a new unit’s, which is why it should start earlier in the purchase cycle. The condition record and the service history are part of the file, not annexures to it.
Documents hospitals and labs need ready
Every medical device customs clearance needs the clinical side of the file as much as the trade side. These are the documents the desk asks for first. Collecting them is not bureaucracy; it is what lets a device leave the airport on the day it is released.
Send scans early; the desk checks names, models and quantities against the invoice before the medical device customs clearance is filed, and flags anything missing in one call rather than a chain of them.
- Purchase order and invoice in the consignee’s name
- Import licence reference held by the importer
- Model list with the intended clinical use
- Free sale certificate from the origin market, where the licence calls for it
- Handling notes for the leg to the ward, theatre or lab
- Installation window and the site contact
Repairs, trials and demo units
Not every device arrives to stay. Repairs go abroad and come home, trial material moves on the approvals issued for the study, and demo units travel to clinics for evaluation and often return. Round trips like these are the quiet half of hospital equipment imports, and each one is two customs events: the export file names what left, and the re-entry file proves the same unit is coming back. The return leg is stricter than most exporters expect, because the unit has to be identifiable to the one that left, so serial numbers and accessory lists are recorded on the way out. Handled by one desk, both legs sit in a single folder, and the medical device customs clearance on the return starts from the original record rather than a blank page.
Tell us about the round trip at the start and the desk builds both legs before the device leaves India, loaner units included.
How it works
Five steps from your first message to goods where you need them.
Tell us what’s moving
Products, values, origin and the sites they need to reach.
Check and quote
HS codes, approvals and landed cost confirmed in writing.
Ship and clear
Declarations filed, duty paid and goods released by customs.
Store or deliver
Straight to site, or into a Lozy warehouse until you need it.
Close the file
Customs documents and proof of delivery shared with you.
Customs and warehousing with one team
Most importers juggle a customs broker, a transporter and a warehouse. With Lozy, the paperwork and the space sit with the same people.
Clear it, then store it
Cleared goods can go straight into one of 227+ Warehouses across our network.
One point of contact
One team follows your shipment from filing to delivery, so nothing falls between vendors.
Checked before it ships
HS codes, licences and paperwork are reviewed at origin, where problems are cheapest to fix.
An itemised quote
Duties, taxes and our charges listed before you commit. Port or examination charges are flagged as they come up.
Frequently asked questions
Can’t see your question? Ask it in the quote form and we’ll answer it with your quote.
Do all medical devices need an import licence in India?
Most do. Under the Medical Devices Rules, 2017, devices are classified by risk and generally need a CDSCO import licence. We check your device’s status before booking.
Who can be the importer for medical devices?
The importer named on the Bill of Entry must hold the CDSCO import licence for that device. We confirm whose licence the shipment moves under before it ships.
What’s needed to import clinical trial supplies?
Trial material needs the approvals issued for the trial. Share them with the shipment details and we’ll plan the clearance.
Can devices be sent abroad for repair?
Yes. We prepare the export papers so the device can come back after repair with the re-import handled correctly.
What does medical device customs clearance involve?
First the licence check: the device, the model and the importer named on the papers must match what is shipping. Then classification, filing of the Bill of Entry, duty and IGST, and delivery to the hospital, lab or trial site. Devices are also checked for labelling and, where relevant, for cold-chain handling. Lozy runs all of it as one file, with the delivery planned around the installation date rather than the flight.
Where do hospital equipment imports clear in Delhi NCR?
Air freight lands at IGI Airport; sea and container freight clears at the NCR ICDs, most often Tughlakabad or Dadri. The desk settles the route with the freight forwarder based on the mode of travel, the urgency and where the consignee sits. Delivery is then planned to the hospital, lab or facility that will receive the unit, and scheduled to suit the receiving team rather than the transporter.
Do upgraded device models need new approvals before import?
Often, yes. Approvals attach to specific models and manufacturing sites, so a revision or a change of plant can take the shipment outside the existing CDSCO import licence. The desk checks the papers against the exact model and construction details before booking, and flags any amendment while there is still time to file it. Suppliers often treat a revision as routine; customs and CDSCO do not, so the check is deliberate.
Can spare parts for imaging systems be imported without a licence?
It depends on what the spare is. A tube, sensor or circuit board can clear as a part of a machine; a replacement module that functions as a device in its own right is usually treated the same way for import purposes in India, licence included. Which way it goes depends on the function the part performs, not on its price. Send the part numbers and the desk will confirm the treatment before the order ships.
Can demo units and trial material come in and go back out?
Yes, with the right papers on both legs. Demo units move on their own documentation and typically leave again after evaluation, while trial material travels on the approvals issued for the study. The desk keeps the outbound and re-entry files linked, and records what accessories left with the unit, so the return matches in full.
What happens to a device between medical device customs clearance and installation?
Equipment can move from release into a Lozy warehouse and wait there until the ward, theatre or lab is ready for it. Where a device has handling or temperature requirements, the storage plan accounts for them, and delivery is scheduled to the installation team’s window. Nothing waits in the open, and storage and delivery stay on the same file as the clearance.
Other industries
Get a landed-cost quote
Tell us what you’re shipping. We’ll reply with duty, taxes and our charges itemised, so you can decide before anything moves.
- Product description or HS code
- Value and quantity
- Origin and delivery city
Prefer to talk? Call +91 93547 12345 or email support@lozy.in.
