The law, however, does not permit refurbished handsets to be imported into the country.
Moreover, on the face of it, the process is given a legal look as the sets are imported through legal channel by paying customs duty as first-hand set.
Pankaj Mahindroo, president of Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the apex body of handset manufacturers in the country, said the new phenomenon had become rampant and was eating into the market of genuine handsets and infringing on consumers
