DoT seeks customs department’s assistance against illegal telecom gear imports: Report

NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought the support of the customs department to strengthen the mechanism to check the imports of telecom equipment after some companies were found to be importing gear in the non-trusted category by manipulating the product codes, as per a Financial Express report.

As per the report, this poses a two-pronged challenge as malware-infected products from China can enter India and pose network security threats. Secondly, the government loses its share of revenue as the codes are changed to those of products attracting zero duty.

Also, companies approved under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme face challenges as their manufactured equipment have to compete against cheaper imports, the report said.