Following the government’s clampdown on Chinese e-commerce companies and sellers allegedly sending goods as gifts, some Chinese firms are now circumventing the current set of laws by undervaluing the products being sold to Indian consumers on their invoices.
According to a senior excise official in Mumbai, the companies are recording as much as 50% less pricing on the final invoice compared to the listing on the online platforms.
Courier Bill of Entry, commonly known as CBE-13, which allows import of goods valued up to Rs 1 lakh, is being used by the companies to evade duties since the invoices show reduced price. Essentially, the reduced prices would eventually show lower duties that need to be paid on these products.
Sellers on Chinese e-commerce companies like Club Factory, Shein or AliExpresshave been exploiting regulatory loopholes that resulted in homegrown traders complaining about the issue to the government last year. Sources added post offices are now also being told to scrutinise these shipments coming from China.
“We have tracked a bunch of shipments coming from Chinese e-commerce companies and found the invoice price records are significantly lower than the actual price of the product on their platform. The idea is to value it as low as possible so that you pay minimum duties and they can leverage their pricing accordingly,” the senior excise official based in Mumbai said. According to him, other key entry points of such commercial goods entering India have been alerted as well.
“AliExpress is a marketplace and forbids illegal activities by third-party online sellers on its platform. Globally, AliExpress has strict measures in place to take action against sellers that violate any local laws of the countries in which it operates.” an AliExpress spokesperson said.
When contacted, Shein and Club Factory did not respond to TOI’s emailed queries. In January, Alibaba had told TOI it had penalised sellers who were evading taxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment