Brands will require licensing for the imports of laptops, computers and tablets in India from now on

The central government on Thursday imposed a restriction on the import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers falling under the HSN 8741 category. It means now companies like – Dell, Acer, Samsung, Panasonic, Apple, Lenovo, and HP will require licensing for the imports of aforementioned products in India. Industry experts have to say that this move would mean prolonged wait times for each new model they launch.

The government in a notification announced that “Exemption from import licensing is allowed for one laptop, tablet, all-in-one Personal Computer or Ultra small form factor Computer, including those purchased from e-commerce portals, through post or courier, subject to applicable duty payment,”

The further notification says “Exemption from import license is provided for up to 20 such items per consignment for the purpose of R&D (research and development), testing, benchmarking and evaluation, repair and re-export, and product development purposes.”

The products imported for the above-mentioned reasons require either to be destroyed or re-exported and not to be used for selling purposes. In case the item was exported for the repair and is re-imported there won’t be any licensing requirement for it.

This move is said to be in line with the Government’s Make in India plan which focuses on increasing manufacturing in India. This would eventually benefit the local contract manufacturers which will receive huge contracts from these companies in order to keep a hold on the market.