Higher duty on WLL phones may skew demand

Exim Matters

 This means the benefit of lower Customs duties, available for imported cellular phones and fixed wireless terminals, will not be available for imported wireless-in-local-loop (WLL) telephones.

 Under heading 85.20 of the Customs Tariff, transmission apparatus incorporating reception apparatus and two-way radio communication equipment attract a basic Customs duty of 15 per cent.

 The items covered under the heading include walkie-talkie sets, cordless handsets, car telephones, transportable telephones, marine/amateur radio communication equipment, cellular phones, VSAT/satellite communication equipment etc. The aggregate duty on these items at the tariff rate works out to 38.736 per cent, including additional duty (CVD) and special additional duty (SAD).

 Exemption notifications reduce the duty incidence of imports of many of these items. For example, the basic duty on specified items, like switching apparatus, base station controllers required by mobile/basic telephony service providers is only 5 per cent.

 The CBEC