November 10: The import of mobile phone sets has increased in the first three months of the current fiscal year by 15 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last FY.

According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported a total of 16,23,795 sets of mobile phones worth Rs 7.19 billion during the review period. During the corresponding of last fiscal year 2018/19, the country imported 13,62,300 sets of phones worth Rs 6.29 billion.

Nepali importers have attributed the increase in import of mobile sets to the government’s decision to provide VAT rebate and also their commitment to bring in genuine products to discourage ‘grey market products’.

Meanwhile, chairman of Mobile Importers’ Association  of Nepal, Deepak Malhotra, says that the enthusiastic increase in import of mobile sets is a result of the companies’ sales strategy for the festive season and also the market expansion of products of Samsung and Xiaomi.

The government’s earlier decision to revoke VAT rebate had encouraged import of products from illegal channels, claimed the importers.