I-T Dept Searches Chinese Telecom Major Huawei Offices In Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru

According to sources, the officials looked at financial documents, account books and company records as part of a tax evasion probe against Huawei, its Indian businesses and overseas transactions

According to official sources, some records have also been seized from Huawei offices. Image: Getty

New Delhi: The Income-Tax (I-T) department has conducted multiple searches at several locations of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in the country as part of a tax evasion investigation, PTI reported quoting official sources on Wednesday.

The raids were launched on the company’s premises in Delhi, Gurugram (Haryana), and Bengaluru on Tuesday.

According to sources, the officials looked at financial documents, account books and company records as part of a tax evasion probe against Huawei, its Indian businesses and overseas transactions.

The sources said that some records have also been seized.

The company said its operations in the country were “firmly compliant” with the law.

Huawei in a statement said, “We have been informed of the visit of Income Tax team to our office and also of their meeting with some personnel. Huawei is confident our operations in India are firmly compliant to all laws and regulations. We will approach related Government departments for more information and fully cooperate as per the rules and regulations and follow the right procedure.”

The government has kept Huawei out of trials for 5G services.

However, telecom operators have been allowed to source telecom gear from Huawei and ZTE under their old agreements for maintaining their networks but they will need approval of the government before getting into any new business agreement, according to National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector.

The I-T department had last year conducted searches against Chinese mobile communication and handset manufacturing companies such as Xiaomi and Oppo and their linked persons and claimed to have detected alleged unaccounted income worth over Rs 6,500 crore due to violation of the Indian tax law and regulations.

The Information and Technology ministry earlier this week blocked 54 more apps with Chinese links, including Tencent Xriver, Nice Video baidu, Viva Video Editor, and gaming app Garena Free Fire Illuminate, citing security and privacy concerns.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also conducted searches and frozen assets of Chinese-controlled companies and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) dishing out instant loans through mobile apps in India.