By M. Sriram
MUMBAI (Reuters) -An Indian government agency has accused Chinese-owned Vivo Mobile of evading taxes worth 22.1 billion Indian rupees ($280 million), it said in a statement.
The tax evasion allegation is India’s second this week against a Chinese phone-maker.
India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) detected customs duty evasion, following which it has issued a show cause notice to Vivo India, the statement said.
A show cause notice is a formal demand for an accused party to justify themselves.
The DRI’s investigation led to the finding of “incriminating evidence indicating wilful mis-declaration in the description of certain items imported,” the statement said.
Vivo India did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Last month, Reuters reported India’s financial crime-fighting agency, the Enforcement Directorate, raided Vivo. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-financial-crime-agency-raids-chinese-owned-smartphone-maker-vivo-sources-2022-07-05
On Tuesday, the DRI issued a show-cause notice to Oppo, another Chinese phone-maker, demanding duty of 44 billion Indian rupees ($556.57 million).
($1 = 79.1660 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by M. Sriram; editing by Jason Neely and Barbara Lewis)
