I-T raids continue on Chinese mobile firms, OPPO says cooperating

With the Income Tax department conducting searches at several premises of Chinese mobile companies across the nation, smartphone brand OPPO said on Wednesday it will continue to cooperate with authorities as per procedure.

According to sources, the smartphone companies were allegedly violating rules and norms to evade taxes and were on the radar of several probe agencies, including the I-T department.

In a statement to IANS, OPPO said that as an invested partner in India, "We highly respect and abide by the law of the land".

"We will continue to fully cooperate with authorities concerned as per procedure," the company added.

Earlier, some Chinese firms which were allegedly running mobile loan application and transport business, were raided by the agencies. Now, few more firms have come into their radar.

According to sources, several teams were formed by the I-T department to conduct searches which started around 9 a.m on Wednesday, and were likely to continue till late in the day.

Reliable sources told IANS that in the case of Xiaomi, routine IT procedure was being carried on, and there was no I-T raid at its premises or its distributors' places.

According to an official, basically the manufacturing units were being raided along with a few corporate houses.

"Few teams also raided the godowns of the Chinese mobile companies. The officials have recovered incriminating documents," said the source.

The raids took place at the offices of state-distribution partners of OPPO, including in Hyderabad, the source added.

ZTE, a Chinese firm which deals in telecom equipment manufacturing in Gurugram, was on the radar of the IT department.

The firm was also raided in August this year. "We had recorded the statement of their India head in connection with tax evasion. We had found irregularities on their end. They were concealing information to avoid tax," said the official.