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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?
and
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.