Historic Delhi HC judgment awaited on parallel imports

With recent cases of parallel imports coming from all over India, vendors have started sending out circulars stating the name of companies involved in parallel imports. Lots of IT channel partners are raising voices both for and against the issue. But the bigger question remains; is parallel imports illegal? Samsung and Dell are the two companies who are actively involved in educating partners and evangelizing parallel imports as an illegal mode of business. However, no vendor till now is able to clearly bring clarity in this business. Apparently, there is a case booked against Delhi based Champion Computers for parallel import by electronics giant Samsung. None of the parties were ready to comment anything officially as the matter is still pending in the court.

The DQWeek spoke to channel partners and it seems that they have some valid arguments. Puneet Singhal, president, Computer Media Dealers Association (CMDA), Delhi voicing his opinion on the case of parallel imports, said, "Firstly, parallel imports exist due to the difference in pricing structures across geographies. Import occurs when products with similar configuration is cheaper in Singapore than in India. Secondly, I would like to make it clear that the import is not illegal, as the importers pay all the necessary taxes while importing the products." Earlier, according to CMDA , Samsung sent a circular stating that if any partner wants to get involved in parallel imports then it would require a permission from Samsung. The DQWeek has a copy of the circular in which Samsung has stated that "Grey market products are those products which are sold in undersigned territory or without the permission of authorization from IPR owner/manufacturer. The authorized products of Samsung Korea are those products marketed and distributed by Samsung Electronics India." Singhal further added, "This circular in itself reflects the attitude of vendors. If companies like Samsung are ready to give an undertaking that Indian pricing will be competitive then we as an association will appreciate and will be ready to come to common terms and solve the matter. We too have filed the litigation in competition forum fighting for these issues and we are ready to withdraw it if companies do not follow dual pricing."

However vendor companies argue that in parallel imports, service is a major problem as they do not give service on parallely imported products. On this account, Pramod Rajpal, CEO, ProDot said, "The importers have the rights to give warranty to the consumers on the sold imported product. If the vendor company does not give warranty on parallely import products, then the importer should clarify to the consumer about the warranty issues and then it is left up to consumers." Overall it is wait and watch for now until the verdict of Delhi High Court on parallel imports between Champion Computers and Samsung India, which may come around the first week of March, 2012.