Imported mobile phones, devices to be costly

10% customs duty on imported phones

Imported mobile phones will be costlier as the Centre has imposed 10% basic customs duty on mobile phones and parts like charger, headsets, battery and USB cable.

 The 10% customs duty will be levied on imported cellular mobile phones and accessories such as charger, battery, wire headset, microphone and receiver, key pad, USB cable and other specified electronic goods, said an official statement issued on Friday late night, adding that the new duty structure will come into force from July 1. 

However, present exemption from basic customs duty on specified parts of mobiles – printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), camera module, connectors display assembly, touch panel, cover glass assembly, vibrator motor and ringer will continue.

 The statement also said inputs and raw material for manufacture of parts of specified electronics goods, including mobile phones will also continue to be exempt from basic customs duty. With the new duty that came into force from July 1, the imported phones will became costly and locally made ones will be cheaper. The move will help boost the local manufacturing, as around 70 companies including big foreign investors like Foxconn and iPhone maker Wistron have invested to set up plants here to produce phones or devices, say analysts.

In 2016-17, India produced about 175 million handset units valued at Rs 90,000 crore from 110 million handsets worth Rs 54,000 crore in the previous year, said the Indian Cellular Association (ICA). The government’s latest decision will help achieve 500 million handsets production target for 2019, said Pankaj Mohindroo, president of Indian Cellular Association in a statement.

Before taking decision on impose duty, the government took legal opinion from the attorney general. The AG said that the import duty can imposed on smartphone as it was not covered by the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), a global agreement among countries.

 As per the ITA, countries have pledged to exempt certain electronic and telecom products from imposing duty. As smartphones did not exist when the ITA was signed in 1996, India need not give zero-duty status for that product, said the attorney general.

Apple reduces prices of its products

Apple on Saturday reduced the maximum retail prices of  iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and some variants of Mac line of computers for its Indian customers, reports DHNS from New Delhi. All iPhone models have received a price cut, starting with Rs 1,200 drop for the 32GB iPhone SE and going all the way up to a Rs 6,600 reduction in maximum retail price for the top-line iPhone 7 Plus 256 GB variant. Apart from iPhone, Apple has slashed prices of iPad models ranging from Rs 900 to Rs 3,900.

Though MacBook Air prices remain unchanged, the 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models have received price drops between Rs 5,100 and Rs 11,800. Mac Pro and some models of iMac models have also witnessed price cut.