Government seeks to impose customs
duty on Kindle
NEW DELHI: The
government is seeking to impose customs duty on Kindle and has moved the Delhi
High Court challenging a 2015 decision by an adjudicatory body that ruled that
the US ecommerce giant was not liable to pay customs duty on imports of the
e-book readers.
In 2012,
Amazon Seller Services approached the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR),
arguing that the Kindle was exempted from duty under a rule that covered
devices with translation or dictionary functions for availing of the benefit.
The revenue department opposed the application taking the plea that Kindle did
not have “translation” or “dictionary functions as its main feature”
The department
argued the exemption notification would be applicable only to such Kindle
devices that had dictionary functions as its main function. The AAR ruled in
its favour, prompting the revenue department to appeal earlier this month
against the decision.
“Notice has
been issued to Amazon,” said Sanjeev Narula, the government lawyer in this
case.
Amazon didn’t
respond until press time Monday to an email seeking comment. In 2015, the
authority said that the interpretation of the revenue department in the case
was incorrect.
It said all such electrical machines that have translation or its dictionary
functions were entitled to the benefits. Amazon Seller Services is the flagship
arm of the Seattle based ecommerce giant that operates Amazon.in marketplace in
India.
Amazon is
currently fighting home-grown Flipkart.com for supremacy in the country’s
rapidly growing online market. The US Company has pledged to invest about $5
billion in India and counts the country as one of the biggest future markets
for it. In 2015, Amazon launched Kindle Unlimited subscription service in India
that allowed customers to read a wide genre of books for a monthly fee of Rs
199.
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming Event | MANLIBNET 17th
Annual International Conference on 15-16 September 2017 at Jaipuria, Noida,
India
