DRI seizes iPhone 13 units worth Rs. 42.86 crore
Following an investigation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized over 3,646 units of the iPhone 13 series at the Mumbai Airport. The handsets were shipped in from Hong Kong as "memory cards," possibly trying to avoid the custom duties that are applied on the import of smartphones in India. The combined valuation of seized units was over Rs. 42.86 crore (around $5 million).
Why does it matter?
The iPhone 13 units were seized at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, on the grounds of violating the customs laws as well as impacting the growth of the pandemic-hit domestic industry. Presently, Indians have to pay 22.5% of customs duties on imported iPhone 13 and around Rs. 10,662 as GST. This brings the total taxes to about Rs. 24,625 on a single unit.
DRI also found Google Pixel 6 Pro, Apple Watch units
"After developing precise intelligence, officers of DRI inspected two consignments on Friday... In the import documents, the goods were declared as 'memory cards'. Physical examination, however, revealed that the consignments actually contained a total of 3,646 iPhone 13 mobile phones," DRI stated. Additionally, Apple Watch wearables and 12 units of Google Pixel 6 Pro, which has not even debuted in India, were also seized.
How much does the iPhone 13 series cost?
iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 start at Rs. 69,900 and Rs. 79,900 and go up to Rs. 99,900 and Rs. 1,09,900, respectively. The Pro and Pro Max start at Rs. 1,19,900 and Rs. 1,29,900 and go up to Rs. 1,69,900 and Rs. 1,79,900, respectively.
The phones have an XDR OLED display
The iPhone 13 series features a wide notch with a Face ID setup, an IP68-rated build quality, and ceramic glass protection. The iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 bear a 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch Full-HD+ XDR OLED screen, respectively. The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max flaunt a 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Full-HD+ "ProMotion" XDR OLED display, respectively, with up to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
They sport 12MP rear cameras
The iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 are equipped with a 12MP (f/1.6) main sensor and a 12MP (f/2.4) ultra-wide lens. The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have a 12MP (f/1.5) primary shooter, a 12MP (f/1.8) ultra-wide sensor, a 12MP (f/2.8) telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom support, and a ToF 3D LiDAR scanner. For selfies, they have a 12MP (f/2.2) front-facing camera.
They draw power from Apple's A15 Bionic processor
The iPhone 13 series is powered by an A15 Bionic processor, which has a 6-core CPU, up to 5-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. They run on iOS 15, are loaded with up to 1TB of storage, and are said to provide up to 2.8 hours of better battery life than their predecessors. For connectivity, the devices support Wi-Fi 6 and 5G.
