Cross connection!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Reduction in duty leads to drop in mobile phone smuggling</span><br /><br />Smugglers seem to be taking a rain check these days -- or at least those dealing in mobile phones and other electronic items. The reduction in customs duty has seen a sharp decline in smuggling of mobile phones, which has gone down by four times since 2003.<br /><br />Sanjeev Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Customs (Air Intelligence Unit) says that 2004 witnessed only 31 cases as compared to 126 reported in 2003. The value of the mobile phones seized in 2003 was over Rs 1.52 crore while last year, phones worth Rs 32.13 lakh were seized.<br /><br />A huge cut in duty rates is the main reason for the decline in smuggling, say senior customs officers. The customs duty on mobile phone earlier was about 30 per cent which was brought down to 5 per cent in the last Budget. Similarly, the Counter Veiling Duty (CVD) was brought from about 30 per cent to 5 per cent. "Hence from 60 percent, the duty came down to 10 percent," says another customs officer.<br /><br />Officers say that in such a situation, mobile phone smuggling is no longer lucrative for smugglers. "They have to pay for the transport and accommodation for the carriers in addition to their fee of Rs 10,000 - Rs 20,000. This leaves barely any profit margin for the smugglers," says the officer. He points out that the margin per phone earlier (when the duty rates were high) was Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per phone. <br /><br />Apart from mobile phones, the other items which have seen a decrease in smuggling due to the duty slash are watches and computer parts. Last year the customs witnessed only nine cases of smuggled wrist watches as compared to 32 cases in 2003. Only five cases of smuggling computer parts were reported last year as compared to 15 in 2003.</div> </div>