By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Indian tax authorities have faulted appliance makers Haier, Godrej & Boyce and Blue Star for not detecting documents fabricated by a spurious recycler who did no e-waste work, while relying on them to meet green goals, a government notice showed.
The third-biggest generator of e-waste after China and the United States, India has been concerned that 78% of the waste from discarded electronic goods is processed by informal scrap dealers who use methods that harm the environment.
Reuters reviewed an August 27 notice sent to the three home appliance majors that detailed the lapses. Indian officials also accused them of wrongly claiming tax credits of $714,000 for recycling services that were never actually rendered.
“The foundational activity of procurement, receipt and processing of e-waste itself is not established,” the tax officials said in their 550-page notice.
Godrej & Boyce and Blue Star said they would respond to the notice and were committed to legal compliance, adding that the recycler concerned had been authorised by the government.
Godrej said it followed all government guidelines for recycling, while Blue Star said it had no reason to believe any irregularity but had stopped dealings with the vendor.
Haier India said it would continue to cooperate with the authorities and was committed to legal compliance.
India’s finance ministry did not respond to queries.
ALARM AMONG CONSUMER ELECTRONICS COMPANIES
The...
By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Indian tax authorities have faulted appliance makers Haier, Godrej & Boyce and Blue Star for not detecting documents fabricated by a spurious rec...