Mobile phone, AC, fridge and cars getting more expensive from today

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The prices of mobile phones, refrigerators, air conditioners and cars are going up from April 1 following the rise in customs duties of various components of these goods. The rise in duties was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech.

ACs and refrigerators would become dearer by Rs 1,200-Rs 1,700, said retailers. The customs duty applicable to the compressors have risen from 10% to 12.5%. Compressors are the critical components of both AC machines and refrigerators.

Mobile phones, too, are undergoing a price hike for a rise in customs duty on some critical components such as printed circuit board, camera modules, connectors and back covers. These components were imported without duty. But from April 1, a duty of 2.5% is being levied on these items.

This would lead to a price increase of mobile phones by Rs 700-900.

“The price of AC machines and refrigerators have shot up by Rs 1,000-2,000 depending upon the price of the item and the brand. We have already raised the price of these items in our showrooms. We would revise the price of cellphones from tomorrow,” said a manager of a Kolkata-based leading retail chain of electronic goods.

A few automobile components too are becoming more expensive following upward revision of customs duties. These are safety glasses and ignition wiring sets. They will push up the price of cars and two-wheelers by a small amount.

These automobile parts attract customs duty in the range of 7.5-10%. Now these would be subjected to 15% duty.

Apart from these items LED lamp and solar power panels will became costlier with customs duty on these items being revised from 5% to 10%.

However, the customs duty on gold, silver and platinum is moving in the opposite direction. The duty on these precious metals was 12.5%, which is being reduced to 7.5% from April 1.