5G Gear of Samsung Worth ₹5-8 Crore Stuck at Mumbai Port

Sources report that a consignment of 5G telecom equipment of Samsung has been held at the Mumbai port by the officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, DRI. The DRI has told the company to pay the duty and get the goods released, which are said to be worth around ₹5-8 crore.

Samsung's 5G Gear Stuck at Port

An executive said on the matter, "the company is taking legal opinion". The DRI had also searched Samsung's offices in Mumbai and New Delhi last week. The agency had cited possible custom evasion as the reason for the search. DRI had said that the telecom gear and smartphone maker has been acquiring network equipment via the FTA route.

DRI also said that the company has avoided proper value addition as per the regulations.

A source reports that DRI officials evaluated details provided by the company on imports of telecom gear. Now, the agency will gauge the extent of duty evasion done by the company.

The person also said that the officials will release the consignment once they have evaluated the actual dues. The officials will then ask the company to pay the leviable dues.

Samsung said that it will skip the PLI Scheme for telecom gear as it feels that it has not enough market share in the country. Reliance Jio is its only major customer, to which the company is supplying 5G gear. The gear maker is also participating in India's ongoing 5G trials with Reliance Jio.