OPPO is hit with a demand for US$550 million from Indian authorities over a new import duty scandal

OPPO has become a prominent name among Android smartphone brands in the Indian market. However, this has not stopped its Ministry of Finance from smacking the company with a giant INR 43.98 billion (~US$550 million) bill following accusations of what amounts to withholding tax revenue in the country.

Therefore, the Find X5 Pro maker now joins its sister OEM Vivo in facing legal trouble in India. Unlike the latter company, however, OPPO has run afoul of the DRI in this case, which claims to have found that its Indian division has made deliberate errors when registering the parts and tools it has been importing into India with its custom officials.

Furthermore, the DRI asserts that OPPO has "wilfully" miscalculated its duties by leaving certain licensing fees out of its total costs on importing its purchases. Then again, the OEM's representatives have responded with "a different view on the charges" in question, although it does apparently intend to "take appropriate steps" to address the matter, "including any remedies provided under the law" should it acknowledge it is truly liable for such reparations.

OPPO may indeed prefer to keep relations between itself and the Indian establishment as rosy as possible, especially given the imminent debut of its latest premium mid-rangers, the Reno8 series, in the market. In addition, as its Indian division is also responsible for the operations of the brands Realme and OnePlus in the country, it may have a lot to lose by remaining on the government's bad side.