Apple devices are expensive in India because of the heavy import duty levied on them. While some models of the iPhone are being assembled locally to lower the price tag, that is not the case with the new iPhone 13 series. As a result, people seem to be at work to import the device from countries where it’s sold for cheaper.
The authorities at India’s Mumbai International Airport have seized over three thousand units of the iPhone 13. The value of the devices has been found to be more than $5 million (USD) in total. The units of the iPhone 13 were reportedly being shipped as ‘memory cards’ but the provided information was found to be false during an investigation.
More than $5 million worth devices seized
“After developing precise intelligence, officers of DRI inspected two consignments on Friday. These consignments had arrived from Hong Kong, at the Air Cargo Complex (ACC), Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. In the import documents, the goods were declared as ‘memory cards’. Physical examination, however, revealed that the consignments actually contained a total of 3,646 iPhone 13 mobile phones,” read a statement by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) which conducted the investigation at the Mumbai International Airport.
The total value of the seized iPhone 13 units has been found to be approximately around 42.86 crore Indian Rupees ( 5.7 million US Dollars in value approximately). The perpetrators of the act likely carried out this task to avoid the high custom duties (import duty) that are levied. It is illegal to import items without correctly stating what is actually being imported.
Along with the thousands of iPhone 13 units that were seized, the authorities also found twelve units of the Google Pixel 6 Pro. The smartphone by Google has not officially been launched in India. As a result, people are looking to import the device but doing so by paying the custom duties is the right way.