Supreme Court to Decide if Reliance’s Imported Routers and Wi-Fi Extenders Qualify as Telecom Equipment [Read Judgement]
The Supreme Court will decide whether imported Reliance telecom products like routers and Wi-Fi extenders qualify as telecom equipment eligible for customs duty exemption
Supreme Court, Supreme Court to Decide if Reliance
Supreme Court, Supreme Court to Decide if Reliance
In a recent development, the Supreme Court of India agreed to hear the Department’s appeal against the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) order that had ruled in favor of Reliance Retail Ltd. in a dispute over customs duty exemption on imported telecom products.
The case arose after customs authorities argued that products imported by Reliance Retail, such as routers, Wi-Fi mesh extenders, HDMI dongles, and Small Form Pluggable (SFP) modules, were wrongly classified under tariff headings eligible for duty exemption as telecom equipment.
The Department claimed these items should instead fall under a different residual heading, which attracts full customs duty. The Principal Commissioner of Customs (Adjudication) had partly accepted Reliance Retail’s classification but rejected exemptions for some items.
The two-member CESTAT bench comprising Mr. C.J. Mathew (Technical Member) and Mr. Ajay Sharma (Judicial Member) observed that the imported products were correctly classified under heading 8517 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, which covers apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images, or data.
The tribunal had explained that similar products had already been recognized as telecom equipment in earlier rulings involving Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and Ingram Micro India Pvt. Ltd.
The CESTAT pointed out that the Department failed to produce evidence to disprove Reliance’s declared classification and that the exemption notifications applied to the goods. It also observed that the burden of proving a different classification lay with the Revenue, which was not met in this case.
Following this decision, the Department filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, which has now issued a notice to Reliance Retail Ltd. The Bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria observed that the matter required examination and directed the case to be listed on 10 November 2025.
The Supreme Court will now decide whether imported Reliance telecom products like routers and Wi-Fi extenders qualify as telecom equipment eligible for customs duty exemption.
Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
