New Delhi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI<\/a>) has sent a show-cause notice to Chinese smartphone maker Oppo Mobiles India<\/a> Pvt Ltd (Oppo India<\/a>) accusing it of evading customs duty amounting to Rs 4,389 crore. The notice also proposes penalties on Oppo India, its employees and the Chinese parent under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. Officials said that the penalty amount will be determined later.
Oppo India said it has a \"different view\" on the allegations in the notice and will be taking appropriate steps, including legal remedies.
The DRI action comes amid wider scrutiny of Chinese handset makers operating in India. Earlier, Vivo and Xiaomi were charged with financial irregularities by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), which investigates money laundering and foreign exchange violations.
Applies to Other Cos as well: Oppo
They have appealed against ED orders in separate courts.
The DRI had searched the offices of Oppo India and homes of key management personnel.
The agency said this \"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\", estimating ineligible duty exemption benefits at Rs 2,981 crore.
Senior management staff and domestic suppliers of Oppo India were questioned. They voluntarily accepted, as per their statements, the submission of wrongful descriptions to customs authorities at the time of import, the DRI said.
The investigation also revealed that Oppo India had remitted or made provision for royalty and licence fee payments to various multinational companies, including those based in China, in lieu of the use of proprietary technology, brand, intellectual property rights licences, etc., the DRI said. These payments were not being added to the transaction value of the goods imported in violation of Customs Act provisions, the agency said, estimating Rs 1,408 crore duty evasion on this count.
\"A sum of Rs 450 crore has been voluntarily deposited by Oppo India, as partial differential customs duty short paid by them,\" the DRI said in a statement.
Oppo India said the issue applies to other companies as well.
\"We have a different view on the charges mentioned in the SCN (show-cause notice). We believe it's an industry-wide issue many corporates are working on,\" the company said in its statement. \"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 will take appropriate steps as may be needed in this regard including any remedies provided under the law.\"
Oppo India is the fifth largest smartphone brand in India with a 10% market share in terms of shipments as of May, according to Counterpoint Research. It also owns sub-brands OnePlus<\/a> and Realme<\/a>.
In April, the ED questioned senior officials of market leader Xiaomi India on charges of illegally remitting money to third parties outside India in violation of the foreign exchange act. The Karnataka High Court had stayed an order to seize the company's bank assets worth over Rs 5,500 crore. The matter is now to be taken up for hearing by a competent authority under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) Act.
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