According to multiple published reports Wednesday (Dec. 22), the searches involved companies that include Oppo, Xiaomi and One Plus, as well as some FinTech firms in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.
Sources told news outlet ANI that the searches were apparently to uncover evidence of tax evasion. These searches came in the wake of an earlier investigation into the Chinese telecom vendor ZTE.
That search reportedly found records showing ZTE had made a 30% gross profit on its equipment sales, despite reporting significant losses. Sources say that investigation also turned up payments to apparently non-existent entities.
“As an invested partner in India, we highly respect and abide by the law of the land. We will continue to fully cooperate with authorities concerned as per procedure,” an Oppo spokesperson said in a statement.
And a spokesperson for Xiaomi India said the company wishes to cooperate with regulators and making sure they have all the information they need, saying the firm gives “paramount importance to ensuring that we are compliant with Indian law.”
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Read more: As Border Tensions Grow, India Bans 43 More Chinese Apps
Last year, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned more than 160 Chinese apps in the wake of a border dispute that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. The government said at the time that the ban came about “in view of information available [that] they are engaged in activities which [are] prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order.”
The IT agency added there were “serious concerns that these apps collect and share data in a surreptitious manner and compromise personal data and information of users that can have a severe threat to the security of the State.”
