Nokia sales decline in Maharahstra!
Mumbai: Nokia’s sale is seeing a decline in Maharahstra due to an increase in value added tax (VAT) rate by 8.5 per cent. Besides VAT, the state also levies 5.5% octroi and 5% customs duties on imported handsets.
In its Budget last month, Maharashtra hiked value added tax (VAT) on cellphones from 4% to 12.5% effective 1 July, triggering protest by traders and manufacturers.
Nokia India head of marketing, Vineet Taneja, who was in Mumbai to launch two new models of the cell phone said to the reporters “Industry-wide handset sales have fallen over 70% as of 23 July, compared to June.”
Terming the government’s move as “regressive”, Taneja added, “Every player has been affected and we, too, have felt the pain.”
Meanwhile, trade bodies like the Maharashtra Mobile Trade Association have cautioned that this step would severely cripple growth of the organised mobile retail trade.