The government is incurring a loss of around Tk 10.00 billion every year due to unchecked volumes of handset shipments into the country through unauthorised channels.
The Bangladeshi Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA) gave the information on Tuesday while talking to reporters at a city hotel.
"Approximately around 2.5 million handsets are coming through illegal channels annually and the market value of those devices is around Tk 3 billion," said BMPIA president Ruhul Alam Al Mahbub.
He also said the country's mobile market is of around Tk 100.00 billion and 30 per cent of which is in the grip of importers who are bringing those here through improper channels evading taxes and other due process.
"If the situation continues, the legitimate importers will gradually lose their enthusiasm and will be bound to shrink their business activities that ultimately will incur huge loss to the government's revenues generation," said the BMPIA leaders.
Over the last nine months of this year, around 23.0 million mobile phone sets were imported to the country, among which 5 million were smartphones, they said.
Moreover, only 10 per cent iPhones are being imported to the country in valid means while 90 per cent of those devices come through illegal paths, they added.
BMPIA Vice President Rezwanul Haque, General Secretary Jakaria Shahid and Joint Secretary Mesbah Uddin, among others, spoke on the occasion.
