Mobile companies allege duty evasion in imports from Asean

India has signed free trade agreements with Asean countries : Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Brunei.

The domestic cellphone industry has flagged possible duty evasion in imports of the completely built unit (CBU) of mobile phones, suspected of Chinese origin, from Asean countries under the free trade route.
 

In a letter to Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Indian Cellular Association (ICA) said there is a possibility of customs duty evasion in import of CBUs from Asean countries at zero duty as the mobile devices contain more than 65 per cent material from non-Asean origin.
 

Government has imposed 20 per cent import duty on mobile phones to promote indigenous manufacturing of the devices as they have security implications.