Commissioner of Customs Vs Beetal Teletech Limited (CESTAT Delhi)
CESTAT Delhi held that Wireless Access Point is classifiable under Customs Tariff Item 8517 62 90 and accordingly is entitled to exemption from Basic Customs Duty under serial no. 13 of notification dated 01.03.2005 as amended by notification dated 11.07.2014.
Facts- The Commissioner of Customs (Air) Chennai has filed this appeal to assail the order passed by the Additional Director General (Adjudication), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, New Delhi, holding that Wireless Access Points/ MIMO Product (products having MIMO Technology) imported by Beetal Teletech Limited would be classifiable under Customs Tariff Item 8517 62 90 and accordingly would be entitled to exemption from Basic Customs Duty under the notification dated 01.03.2005, as amended by the notification dated 11.07.2014.
Conclusion- A Division Bench of the Tribunal in Ingram Micro India also confirmed the classification of identical product (i.e. WAP) under CTI 8517 62 90 and extended the benefit of the subsequent notification dated 30.07.2017.
Held that the investigation by the DRI was not only against Beetal Teletech but few other importers of these goods also and the proceedings initiated against other importers was dropped but appeals have not been filed by the Department. Thus, WAP imported by the appellant works on technology and does not support LTE standard. Ingram Micro was, therefore, justified in claiming exemption from the whole of the customs duty under Serial No. 13 (iv) of the notification. There is, therefore, no infirmity in the order dated 28.11.2019 passed by the Additional Director.
FULL TEXT OF THE CESTAT DELHI ORDER
The Commissioner of Customs (Air) Chennai-VII Comminssionerate 1 has filed this appeal to assail the order dated 28.11.2019 passed by the Additional Director General (Adjudication), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, New Delhi2, holding that Wireless Access Points3/ MIMO Product (products having MIMO Technology) imported by Beetal Teletech Limited 4 would be classifiable under Customs Tariff Item5 8517 62 90 and accordingly would be entitled to exemption from Basic Customs Duty 6 under the notification dated 01.03.2005, as amended by the notification dated 11.07.2014. The demand of customs duty for the period from July 2014 to June 2017 has, therefore, been dropped. The penalty imposed upon Beetal Teletech has also been dropped. This order has been assailed in Customs Appeal No. 51875 of 2021.
2. The penalty imposed upon Ranbir Bhandri has also been dropped. This order has also been assailed by the Department in Customs Appeal No. 51874 of 2021.
3. Beetal Teletech is a distributor of Information Technology products. It imported WAP from various foreign suppliers for trading purpose in India and it classified the imported WAP under CTI 8517 62 90 during the period from July 2014 to June 2017. According to the appellant, WAP works on Multiple Input/Multiple Output7 technology, but does not support Long Term Evolution8 standard.
4. It would, therefore, be necessary to state briefly about WAP, MIMO and LTE:
(i) WAP: It is a networking device used for wireless communication within the Local Area Network9. It helps in connecting wireless enabled devices such as Laptops, Smartphone, Tablets etc., to a wired network;
(ii) MIMO: It is a technology wherein multiple antennas are used simultaneously for transmission and multiple antennas are used simultaneously for reception;
(iii) LTE: In telecommunication, it is a standard for highspeed cellular communication for mobile devices and data terminals. It increases the capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core network improvements.
5. The issue in this appeal pertains to the availability of exemption from the whole of the customs duty by Beetal Teletech under Serial No. 13 of the notification dated 01.03.2005, as amended by notification dated 11.07.2014. The relevant Serial No. 13, as it stood during the relevant period is as follows:
“Exemption to goods of specific heading, from customs duty (ITA Bound). – In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the following goods of the description as specified in column (3) of the Table below and falling under the heading, sub-heading or tariff-item of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) as specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of the said Table when imported into India, from the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the said First Schedule, namely:-
