Notices issued to 3 Chinese mobile firms: FM

New Delhi, Aug. 2: The government is looking into cases of alleged tax evasion by Chinese mobile companies Oppo, Vivo India and Xiaomi and notices have been issued to them, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has issued a notice to Oppo for total customs duty of Rs 4,389 crore, she said, adding, "duty evasion we think is about Rs 2,981 crore...undervaluation of imported goods for the purpose of payment of customs duty, that we think is an evasion of Rs 1,408 crore." She said voluntarily they have come about to deposit Rs 450 crore, much against the demand of Rs 4,389 crore.

Regarding Xiaomi, which deals with assembled MI mobile phones, has been issued three show-cause notices. "The approximate duty liability there is about Rs 653 crore. For the three show cause notices, they have been issued, they have deposited only Rs 46 lakh," the minister said.

For Vivo India, a demand notice has been issued for Rs 2,217 crore for which they have deposited Rs 60 crore as a voluntary deposit, she told the House.

"Besides these, the ED is looking at 18 companies that were established by the same group Vivo and there they have voluntarily remitted Rs 62 crore as deposits but the parent company outside of India has total sales of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

"Of the Rs 1.25 lakh crore total sales, Vivo has transferred through these 18 companies huge amounts of funds and it is believed that Vivo India has, in turn, remitted Rs 0.62 lakh crore to its parent company which is outside India," Sitharaman said.