TelecomLive April-2020

[ News Bytes ] www.telecomlive.com 10 Telecom LIVE April 2020 exports of smartphones from India by 2025 from the current $3 bn. If India were to lose the case, it would be compelled to cut basic customs duty on all handsets, which would erode manufacturing in India and flood the local market with cheaper imports fromChina. The industry associa- t i o n r e i t e r a t e d i t s suggestion to unilaterally reduce duties on high- end phones, especially those priced Rs 20,000 and above, to a flat rate of Rs 4,000 per device. I CEA s a i d t h i s w i l l address the EU's con- cerns and ensure that the govt doesn't losemoney. The basic customs duty causes an annual loss of R s 2 , 5 0 0 c r t o t h e exchequer due to smug- g o v e r n m e n t . T h e companies are challeng- ing it on the premise that government cannot slap tax on license fees as this is the sovereign function of the state. G o v e r n m e n t i n October last year had issued a circular around GS T o n l i c e n s e f e e charged by states for granting liquor license to vendors. Facebook may acquire multi bn dollar stake in Jio Facebook is reportedly in talks to acquire stake in Reliance Jio Infocomm. It was close to an initial agreement to pick up a 10 pc stake but discussions hadn't moved forward on account of the global disruption following the coronavirus outbreak. In addition, Google is also talking to Jio to acquire stake. Smartphone compa- nies tell govt to take WTO probe seriously Smartphone makers including Apple and Lava have told the government t ha t I nd i a ' s $28 bn handset manufacturing industry faces a looming threat posed by an EU request for a WTO panel to probe country's high basic customs duty on high-end smartphones. “If India loses the case, not only will it have a devastating effect on t a r i f f s o f h i g h - e n d phones, but in fact the entire range of mobile handsets manufactured in India,” Indian Cellular & Electronic Association (ICEA), said in a letter to revenue secretary. The government has set a target of $110 bn for gling of devices priced at Rs 50,000 and above and destabilises the business of Indian retailers who stock these phones, the association reiterated. ICEA said the industry was surprised that the government had increased the duty to 22 pc from20 pc in the Union budget, which would widen the arbitrage in high-end phones, leading to more smuggling and causing greater losses to the exchequer. The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body on March 5 considered a request from the European Union for a dispute panel to rule on India's import tariffs on certain ICT goods. SC junks Vodafone Idea plea against OTSC levies The Supreme Court dismissed Vodafone Idea's petition against levying one time spectrum charges (OTSC) and came down heavily on the telco when the latter appealed that the plea was not related to the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case at all. "Don't pay anything.. not this, not AGR. Youwill still not be touched," said the SC bench led by Justice Arun Mishra. Earlier, DoT asked the twomerging telcos to furnish bank guarantees as a precondition for merger approv- als. Vodafone India and Idea then paid Rs 3,926 cr in cash and a bank guarantee worth Rs 3,322 cr respec-