Directorate of Revenue Intelligence accuses Samsung of $212 million customs duty evasion

The DRI said Samsung India Electronics Ltd misclassified networking devices called remote radio heads to avail undue exemption of basic customs duty, the Economic Times reported.

File photo of a journalist using a mobile phone as he works outside the Samsung Electronics smartphone manufacturing facility in Noida, India, on 9 July, 2018 | Reuters

Bengaluru: An Indian government agency has accused the local unit of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics of evading import taxes worth 17.28 billion rupees ($212 million) by misclassifying a product, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said Samsung India Electronics Ltd misclassified networking devices called remote radio heads to avail undue exemption of basic customs duty, the Economic Times reported.

The agency sent Samsung India and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd (PwC), which was hired to classify the network equipment, a show cause notice, the report said. -Reuters

Samsung, PwC and India’s finance ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. ($1 = 81.6300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)