Srinath Narayanan to get refund after being asked to pay custom duty for gold medal
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju confirms the Indian chess player will get a refund after he was asked to pay custom duty for a recently-won gold medal.
Published : Dec 05, 2020 18:23 IST
Indian chess player Srinath Narayanan will get a refund after he was asked to pay custom duty on the gold medal he won at the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday.
According to reports, Narayanan had to pay custom duty of ₹ 6,300 to get the gold medal which he won in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad in August this year.
Rijiju said his office has contacted the player and the issue has been resolved.
“I’m very upset with this news. My office has already reached out to the athlete,” he wrote on Twitter .
'Misunderstanding'
“It was a case of misunderstanding between Customs and Courier company. The issue has been resolved. The company has acknowledged the slip up and will return the money to the athlete Srinath Narayanan.”
On Wednesday, Narayanan took to social media to inform that he received the medal but had to pay custom duty for it. “The medals are here! Thank you @FIDE_chess. On the way to dispatch them to the rest of the team now. It wasn’t easy getting it! It reached from Russia to India in three days, but took more than a week to reach from Bangalore to India, and had to pay customs duty!” Narayanan tweeted.
The Indian chess team claimed its first-ever gold medal after being adjudged joint winner alongside Russia in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad.