MeitY relaxes the import duty on cells/batteries of POS machines

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), have relaxed the import conditions on the Point of Sale (PoS) terminal devices and sealed secondary cell/batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes that are used in portable applications.

On November 28, 2016, the government had already exempted the goods and devices used in the manufacture of PoS machines by announcing a 12.5% of excise duty and 4% special additional duty. These devices are indispensable in a cashless digital payment ecosystem.

In its latest Customs circular no. 03/2017 dated January 16, 2017 MeitY has detailed the following devices that shall also enjoy relaxed import conditions:

1. Non-labelled registered PoS devices imported shall be allowed subject to the condition that the importer puts a standard logo on each carton at the port instead of each separate PoS Terminal device along with the declaration to the Customs confirming that each terminal device would be labelled after clearance but before sale/distribution in the Indian market. Customs may release the consignments of PoS devices based on the declaration along with the details of model/Serial nos. of the PoS terminal devices inside the cartons.
2. Special permission for import of batteries and cells coming along (fitted) with the BIS registered PoS terminals if the said cells/batteries are either registered with BIS as per IS 16046 or are certified as per the International standard IEC 62133: 2012. Spares shall not be allowed under this relaxation.

Both the above exemptions from the regulatory requirements shall be valid till March 31, 2017 or till further orders issued by MeitY.

With the announcement of demonetisation in November there has been a sharp surge in the manufacture, demand and sale of PoS machines from businesses across the country. According to estimates the number of PoS machines has doubled from 7.41 lakh in September 2012 to 14.96 lakh in September 2016 with installation of these machines surging in small towns and big cities in equal measure.