Govt Defers Laptop, Tablet and PC Import Curbs
till Nov 1
In a big relief to consumers
and big laptop traders, the government has deferred import restrictions on
laptops, all-in-one personal computers, and tablets. As per the guidelines
provided by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the import of
these devices can be carried out without requiring a valid licence
until October 31 after which a licence is required.
This means the mandatory
requirement of licence for bulk imports of computers,
laptops and tablets would come into effect from November 1, 2023. The
government had suddenly on Thursday (03.08.2023) announced restrictions on
imports of computers, laptops and tablets in order without reason or
preparation. The reversal of the measure within a day of the restriction
following wide protests in India and abroad. However, the decision created a
lot of concerns over potential disruption in the supply of these goods during
the festive season when significant sales of electronic items take place. There
were also concerns that prices will shoot up ahead of the festive season.
Earlier, the officials from
the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (Meity)
had said there will be no disruption to goods in transit, and that tech
companies will get sufficient time to apply for the license, and it can easily
be applied online. But the transition provisions in the complex FTP failed to
repair the description in supply chain.
The Meity
officials claimed that companies will get the licence
within 10-15 minutes after applying on the DGFT portal. The official said one
company can apply for as many licenses with different branches and cities.
“This is not at all about
license raj. It is about regulating imports to ensure trusted and verifiable
systems and ensuring India tech eco-system uses trusted and verified systems
only that are imported and/or domestically manufactured trusted
systems/products,” said Meity Minister Rajeev
Chandrasekhar in a tweet.
Meanwhile, experts are of the
view that the abrupt decision to curb imports of personal computers, laptops,
or tablets may have stemmed from the need to boost production-linked incentive
(PLI) scheme 2.0, which has been a slow starter. After the successful
implementation of the scheme for mobile manufacturing, the government launched
a similar scheme for large hardware. However, it didn’t achieve the same level
of success as the mobile scheme. Therefore, in June 2023, the government
re-launched the scheme doubling the incentives to Rs 17,000 crore.
As per Meity
officials, only two companies have filed applications under the scheme as of
July 31. Companies can file their application till August 30. Experts believe
the decision to curb imports of these devices can pose challenges for
companies, which do not opt for the PLI scheme for large electronics and fail
to tie-up with Indian contract manufacturers.
Effect of the
Notification: Liberal transitional arrangements are provided for import
of Laptops, Tablets, All-in-one Personal Computers, Ultra
small form factor Computers and Servers falling under HSN 8471 till 31.10.2023.
Subject: Amendments to Notification No. 23/2023 dated 03.08.2023
S.O .(E): In exercise of
powers conferred by Section 3 and Section 5 of Foreign Trade (Development &
Regulation) Act, 1992, read with paragraph 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade
Policy,
2023, the following
amendments are made in Notification No. 23/2023 dated 03.08.2023:
Notification No. 23/2023 dated
03.08.2023 shall be effective from 1st November 2023. Import consignments
can be cleared till 31.10.2023 without a Licence for
Restricted Imports. For clearance of import consignments with effect from 01.11.2023, a valid Licence for Restricted Imports is required.
(Issued from F.No. 01/89/180/39/AM-13/PC-2[A]/E-2261)