Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The Government on October 19 rolled out animport management system for IT hardware, including laptops and computers, modifying its initial stance of imposing physical restrictions. This notification comes just days after concerns were raised by US, China, South Korea and Taiwan at a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting.
Under the proposed system, IT hardware companies will be required to register and disclose data related to their imports, and countries from which they import, among other things. This comes as a big relief to the industry which feared that the previous licensing notification would lead to a kind of quota system.
The key idea behind the measure is to check imports of laptops and computers, especially since a majority of them come from China, which has New Delhi worried.
There are carve outs for imports by Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along with imports of spares, parts, assemblies, sub-assemblies, components, and notified IT hardware items essential for capital goods. There will be no restrictions on imports under baggage rules, and import of one laptop, tablet, personal computer or ultra-small form factor computer, including those purchased from e-commerce portals through post or courier, will also be exempted.
