The government has relaxed curbs for shifting of used IT hardware goods like laptops and desktops by a company in special economic zones (SEZs) to outside these duty free-enclaves or domestic tariff areas.

SEZs are treated as deemed foreign territory for customs laws and bringing goods from these zones into the domestic tariff area (DTA) or domestic market is tantamount to imports.

In general, a company from DTA needs a licence for imports of these goods from SEZs.

Easing these curbs, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in a notification has said that used IT assets (laptops, desktops, monitors, printers) can be moved from SEZ by a company to DTA without a license for the purposes of further use in their DTA operations “only”.

However, these equipment should have been used in SEZ units for two years and should not be older than five years from the date of manufacturing.

“Import policy of used IT assets (laptops, desktops, monitors, printers) from SEZ to DTA has been notified,” DGFT said.

It added that in cases where a unit is closing down its operations in SEZ, and relocating to the DTA, the import of these items is allowed without a licence subject to a condition that those products should not be older than five years from the date of manufacturing.

If a SEZ unit has second hand/used/old condition equipment and is being used for less than two years, they can not be shifted to DTA. “Import of any used IT assets which do not fulfil” these criteria “shall be subject to licence for restricted import,” it said adding these relaxations will be applicable on the condition that no exemption has been availed from any regulatory requirements, that is Compulsory Registration Order (CRO), Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), and WPC (wireless planning and coordination) import licence.

The development assumes significance as in October last year, the government had tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers as it allowed importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere ‘authorisation’ upon detailing quantity and value.

The new ‘import management system’ is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime.