Industry calls out ED over action against smartphone brands on ‘legitimate’ royalty payments

NEW DELHI: An industry association representing companies like Apple and Xiaomi has written to the government about Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent actions against smartphone brands’ royalty payments on intellectual property, saying the move has sent “shivers through the industry”.

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), in a letter to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce minister Piyush Goyal and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw dated May 30, blamed recent ED action against handset brands for alleged violation of foreign exchange rules on the agency’s “lack of understanding the process of royalty payments to patent holders”.