Government tweaks customs duty on certain products

New Delhi, Oct 11: The Union Government on Thursday changed custom duty on certain products including telephones and smartwatches.

The increased duties would be effective from October 12, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) said in a notification. This is the second round of increase in custom duties as the government looks to cut down on non-essential imports in the face of a weakening rupee and massive outflows.

The Finance Ministry has raised customs duty from 10% to 20% on telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks.

Finance Ministry has levied 10% customs duty on smartwatches, optical transport equipment, a combination of one or more of Packet Optical Transport Product or Switch (POTP or POTS), Optical Transport Network (OTN)products, Soft switches and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)equipment, reported ANI.

10% custom duty has also been levied on Carrier Ethernet Switch, Packet Transport Node (PTN) products, Multiprotocol Label Switching Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) products and Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO).

Duty has also been raised to 20 per cent from 10 per cent for base stations and for machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus other than modems, voice frequency telegraphy, digital loop carrier systems and multiplexers.

Customs Duty is a tariff or tax imposed on goods when transported across international borders. Customs Duty is a type of indirect tax levied on goods imported into India as well as on goods exported from India.

Following a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government had on September 14 announced that it would impose curbs on import of non-essential items to contain the widening CAD and check the rupee's fall. Earlier Thursday, a Finance Ministry official had said more steps will be taken to check CAD and hoped that the rupee would appreciate.