Handset maker Vivo has been blocked by Indian authorities from exporting some 27,000 smartphones worth $15 million for more than a week, the media reported. Smartphones made by Vivo India are being held up at New Delhi Airport by the country’s Revenue Intelligence Unit, a department of the Ministry of Finance, for allegedly misdeclaring the smartphone models and their value, according to a report by Bloomberg news agency, citing several become people who are familiar with the matter.
Also Read: Apple Improves App Store Pricing Structure Worldwide, Including in India
Stopping the handset maker’s deliveries at the airport is likely to unsettle other Chinese smartphone makers like Realme, Xiaomi and others in the country, where a nationalist government led by PM Narendra Modi is urging them to increase exports and build local supply chains. It could also hurt India’s ambitious goal of exporting $120 billion worth of electronics products by the end of March 2026, the Bloomberg report added.
Also Read: Telegram Premium Surpasses 1 Million Subscribers Within 6 Months of Launch
According to the report, an industry lobby group has criticized the agency’s actions. India Cellular and Electronics Association Chair Pankaj Mohindroo also recently sent a letter to the ministry, and Mohindroo has reportedly mentioned that such measures will “dispel” the motivation for companies to manufacture and export electronics from India.
Also Read: Government Pays Telecom Operators to Send SMS Alerts During Disasters
As a reminder, in early August, Vivo’s Indian unit had been accused of evading more than $280 million in tariffs by the ​Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, weeks after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) closed the smartphone maker’s offices had searched.
According to the Treasury Department, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had seized “incriminating evidence suggesting willful misrepresentation in the description of certain items” imported by the smartphone maker’s Indian unit when it conducted searches at its factories. The ministry added in a press statement: “It resulted in the company’s ‘unlawful claiming of ineligible duty exemption benefits’.”
Meanwhile, the ED had previously informed the Delhi High Court through an affidavit that Vivo India had engaged in money laundering in order to destabilize the financial system and call into question the integrity and sovereignty of the country.
