Govt reaffirms quality-related restrictions on laptops, mobile phones, other electronic items

The Indian Express had reported last month that until January in the 2023-24 financial year (FY), nearly eight out of 10 laptops sold in India came from China and that Beijing has managed to increase its share in laptop exports to India to nearly 90 per cent even after New Delhi’s attempts to discourage laptop and PC imports from China.

The notification said that about 64 electronic items including laptops, tablets, microwave ovens, set top boxes, mobile phones, digital camera and bluetooth speakers among others, new as well as second hand, is prohibited unless they are registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

“The importer shall re-export such prohibited Goods reaching Customs Ports else the Customs Authorities shall deform the goods beyond use and dispose of the goods as scrap under intimation to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY),” the notification released by the commerce and industry ministry dated May 20 said.

The notification said that for the LED products and DC or AC supplied control gears for LED modules as notified in a 2021 order, samples will be picked up on random basis from the randomly selected consignments and will be sent to BIS recognized labs for testing of limited defined non-destructive safety parameters from the IS standard applicable on the product, as identified by MeitY from time to time.

“Further, for such consignments, clearance would be given by Customs to only those consignments where the randomly selected sample has complied with the requirements of standard for the defined parameters. However, if the sample drawn fails to meet the requirements of standard, such consignment will be sent back or will be destroyed at the cost of importer,” the notification read.

This newspaper had reported that the government’s PLI scheme for IT hardware is moving in the slow lane, despite the Union Information Technology Ministry modifying the plan to increase budgetary outlay last May, and clearing 27 entities, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo, under the scheme.

The government had asked companies to come back with production targets under the scheme but it is yet to receive detailed projections by the companies despite repeated efforts.

“The companies are hopeful that they can push the government on that timeline further and keep importing, which in a way, also disincentives them to prioritise the IT hardware PLI,” a senior government official had told the Indian Express.