Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday informed Rajya Sabha that three mobile phone companies — Oppo India, Xiaomi Technology India Pvt. Ltd., and Vivo Mobiles India — are under investigation for duty evasion and remitting sales proceeds to companies outside India. All three companies are from China.
Ms. Sitharaman said that the government was taking cognisance of the cases where digital loan apps “originating from one particular country” were being misused to harass citizens and extort money. She added that the “government is consciously taking action against Indian citizens who have helped in having these companies established and other shell companies through which they are operating.”
Responding to a question from member Sushil Modi, about Chinese companies that have remitted money to China and China-controlled territories, the Minister said the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has issued a notice to Oppo for ₹4,389 crore duty evasion on grounds of misdeclaration of certain goods. “The duty evasion is about ₹2,981 crore, undervaluation of imported goods of ₹1408 crore. Oppo has voluntarily deposited ₹450 crore against ₹4,389 crore demand,” she detailed.
