Nasscom seeks review of licensing rule for PCs, other equipment

Synopsis Earlier this week, ET reported that major global electronics companies such as Apple, Dell, HP and Acer have sought an extension of nine months to a year of the deadline for the import licences required for the devices. IANS Technology industry body Nasscom has requested the government to put in abeyance and review its decision to impose licensing requirements for the import of laptops, all-in-one-personal computers and certain other electronic equipment as it will hit the $245 billion Indian IT sector severely. Nasscom has written to the government on this and is in discussion with the industry to “understand in greater detail the challenges that are being anticipated” so that those could be shared with the government, Nasscom vice president and head of public policy Ashish Aggarwal said.

“We understand that there is no ban on the import. However, the requirement of obtaining licences is a cause for concern for the industry as this is seen as creating uncertainty as to whether they will be able to import the items as per their needs and the red tape that may get created,” Aggarwal said in response to queries by ET. Considering the local capacity to manufacture these products — especially certain servers used by the software industry that are not even made in India — “any restriction or compliance burden on account of the licence-led imports can be onerous for the industry”, he said.

Earlier this week, ET reported that major global electronics companies such as Apple , Dell , HP and Acer have sought an extension of nine months to a year of the deadline for the import licences required for the devices. Representatives of these companies had met minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar and senior officials from the IT ministry on Tuesday and apprised them of the problems and challenges that are likely to arise due to the licensing requirements, sources had then told ET. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Through a notification issued last week, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade imposed additional licensing requirements for companies importing laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs , ultra-small factor computers and servers.

The restrictions came into effect immediately, which led to shipments of several companies being stopped on ports. After this, the government intervened and extended the deadline for licensing by three months to November 1. Industry executives expressed apprehensions as some of the products such as high-end laptops and servers are not manufactured in India and hence could take more time to import.

The country imported IT hardware products worth $8. 8 billion in FY23, with China accounting for more than half at $5. 1 billion, followed by $1.

3 billion from Singapore. The government expects import licensing to encourage local manufacturing, with the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware acting as a sweetener. Outsourcing expert Pareekh Jain said large enterprises and IT services providers, which had long-term global asset procurement relationships with manufacturers, would be less impacted by the import curbs compared with micro, small and medium enterprises.

“The startup and freelance technology solution providers’ ecosystem, including smaller staffing solution providers, tend to have cost constraints and seek out more competitively priced products which is where there will be an impact,” said Jain. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Thursday, 10 Aug, 2023 Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! Read Complete Print Edition » Front Page Pure Politics Companies Economy More New Law on Digital Competition Likely to Regulate Big Tech The government could bring in a specific digital competition law to regulate big tech, said people aware of the matter.

The corporate affairs ministry is mulling a separate legislation instead of tweaking the existing Competition Act, which was amended recently, they said. Auto Cos Flag Local Value Addition Math Under PLI Automakers that have qualified for the ₹25,938 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the sector have flagged problems with the calculation of local value addition. Data Bill to Make Social Media Cos Accountable, Fortify IT Industry The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill that the Rajya Sabha cleared on Wednesday will make social media companies operating in India more accountable, boost the business of the IT industry and change the way organisations process data of Indians, minister for electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The exemptions that are given to the government under the proposed law are far fewer than what the European privacy law provides, he told Aashish Aryan & Surabhi Agarwal in an interview. Read More News on nasscom laptop import apple dell hp acer pcs Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox.

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