The world's largest manufacturer of smartphones, Xiaomi, has claimed that it has "absolutely not" evaded taxes in India and has attributed the regulatory action to "misunderstandings." The business is the subject of numerous inquiries from the income tax department and ED.
The statement from Xiaomi India president Muralikrishnan B comes at a time when the company has been under severe stress due to tax raids on its India operations. It has also lost market leadership due to increased competition from Samsung, apart from compatriots Vivo and Realme.
According to Murali, as he is known within the firm, Xiaomi is currently revising its business model while his legal and regulatory teams handle the investigations, which have resulted in a significant portion of the company's money being frozen.
“Some of the things that we've been accused of; it's just not possible…. It reflects a certain misunderstanding… We’re a taxpaying company, and (in) every year of our existence in India, we have paid taxes,” Murali told media. “We are a law abiding corporate citizen, and everything that we have done is in accordance with the law.”
Murali stressed that while Xiaomi is a Chinese firm, it has strong India leadership and it looks to strengthen local sourcing. He took over from the contentious Manu Jain, who recently resigned the company after being transferred out of India to Dubai.