India’s the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has revealed that Oppo India has evaded paying custom duty worth Rs 4,389 crore, as per a recent investigation. This comes after similar investigations into Chinese brands like Vivo and Xiaomi. Here are the details.
Oppo Wrongfully Avoided Custom Duty?
The DRI has suggested that Oppo wilfully gave misdeclaration in the description of certain items imported, which were meant to be used in the manufacturing of the Oppo phones. It is also said that during the investigation, Oppo India’s employees and domestic suppliers agreed that they gave the wrong description of the imported items to the Customs Authorities.
Oppo handles its (and even OnePlus and Realme’s) manufacturing, assembling, wholesale trading, and distribution of mobile phones and accessories.
In a statement, DRI, says, “During the course of the investigation, searches were conducted by DRI at the office premises of Oppo India and residences of its key management employees, which led to the recovery of incriminating evidence indicating wilful misdeclaration in the description of certain items imported by Oppo India for use in the manufacture of mobile phones. This misdeclaration resulted in wrongful availment of ineligible duty exemption benefits by Oppo India amounting to Rs 2,981 crore.“
The investigation also revealed that Oppo India has paid ‘Royalty’ and ‘Licence Fee’ worth Rs 1408 crore to various multinational companies. This amount wasn’t added to the transaction value of the imported goods, thus, violating, Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962.
Oppo, in a statement to TechCrunch, said, “We believe it’s an industry-wide issue many corporates are working on. OPPO India is reviewing the SCN received from DRI, and we are going to reply to the notice, presenting our side, and will be working further with the related government departments. OPPO India is a responsible corporate and believes in a prudent corporate governance framework. OPPO India will take appropriate steps as may be needed in this regard including any remedies provided under the law.“
We need to wait for a proper conclusion to this. We will keep you updated on this. So, stay tuned and do share your thoughts on this in the comments below.
