Credit: Giphy
Also in this letter:
■ Ola Electric invests $100 million in battery cell R&D
■ Microsoft lays off 1,800 workers as slowdown hits Big Tech
■ Twitter sues Musk to enforce $44-billion merger
Oppo India evaded customs duty worth Rs 4,389 crore, says government
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has found that Oppo India evaded customs duty worth Rs 4,389 crore, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.
DRI officials searched the offices of Oppo India and the homes of its key management employees, the ministry said in a press statement.
“This mis-declaration resulted in wrongful availment of ineligible duty exemption benefits by Oppo India amounting to Rs 2,981 crore. Among others, senior management employees and domestic suppliers of Oppo India were questioned, who in their voluntary statements accepted the submission of wrongful description before the Customs Authorities at the time of import,” it said.
The investigation also revealed that Oppo India had remitted or made provisions for ‘royalty payments’ and ‘licence fees’ to various multinational companies, including those based in China, for the use of proprietary technology and brands, the ministry said.
But Oppo India did not add these payments to the transaction value of the goods it imported and thus violated the Customs Act, it said, adding the company allegedly evaded another Rs 1,408 crore in taxes this way.
Relief for Vivo: Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has allowed another Chinese phone brand, Vivo, to access its bank accounts provided it furnishes a bank guarantee of Rs 950 crore and maintains Rs 250 crore in its accounts at all times.
On July 5, the ED conducted raids at multiple locations across India in connection with a money-laundering probe against Vivo, after freezing its bank accounts.
Cogs in a machine: Both Vivo and Oppo are often called phonemakers but in reality they are simply brands under a single giant company called BBK Electronics, which also owns the Realme, OnePlus and iQOO brands.
According to data from research firm Canalys from April, BBK is close to becoming the world’s largest smartphone maker, with Oppo and Vivo commanding a global market share of 10% and 8%, respectively. This puts BBK on par with Apple (18%) and ahead of Xiaomi (13%).
Also Read: Meet BBK Electronics, the Chinese giant behind Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and more
Ola Electric invests $100 million in battery cell R&D
Ola Electric has invested $100 million in research and development (R&D) for its own lithium-ion battery cells, according to reports from brokerage firms ICICI Securities and Edelweiss.
The reports said Ola Electric has employed over 200 researchers for R&D.
Self-sufficiency: Ola Electric currently sources battery cells for its electric scooters from South Korea’s LG Chem. As batteries are the most expensive part of any EV, manufacturing them in-house could cut Ola Electric’s costs by around 30%, they said.
Ola cofounder Bhavish Aggarwal took to Twitter to reveal the firm’s first indigenously made lithium-ion cell.
“The cell is the heart of the EV revolution. We need to make our technology to scale faster and innovate. Much more in the pipeline on our cell technology roadmap!” he tweeted.
The firm aims to start making its own batteries by 2026.
Yes, but: Though Ola has grand ambitions, ICICI Securities said it would take time for the company to realise them.
We reported on June 24 that Ola Electric was far from utilising its full capacity and that its daily scooter sales had dropped to 130-200 units a day.
Ola Electric and other EV makers have also come under scrutiny after a string of electric scooter fires over the past few months. It was recently served a show-cause notice by the government, which asked why it should not be prosecuted for delivering faulty scooters to customers.
Microsoft lays off 1,800 workers as slowdown hits Big Tech
The slowing of the global economy has finally reached Big Tech’s shores, with Microsoft becoming the first tech giant to lay off workers — 1,800 of them, or about 1% of its workforce – reports Bloomberg.
Quote: “Today we had a small number of role eliminations. Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly,” Microsoft said.
The company has also slowed down hiring across its Windows, Teams and Office divisions.
Google slows hiring: According to an internal memo by CEO Sundar Pichai, search giant Google is also slowing down hiring for the rest of the year owing to the uncertain macroeconomic environment. A few weeks ago, Meta had announced a similar move.
“Moving forward, we need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days. In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes,” wrote Pichai.
Tweet of the day
Twitter sues Musk to enforce $44-billion merger
Twitter has sued Elon Musk in a Delaware court, seeking to force the Tesla CEO to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 a share. Musk had terminated the deal a few days ago, saying the company failed to give him accurate data on spam bot accounts.
Quote: “Musk apparently believes that he – unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law – is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away,” said Twitter in its court filing.
The company had earlier refuted Musk’s claims that it had breached the terms of their deal and accused him of “knowingly” violating the agreement. In its lawsuit, it said Musk’s actions “have cast a pall over its business” and increased employee attrition.
The lawsuit set the stage for one of the biggest showdowns in Wall Street history, which could have major repercussions for Twitter, no matter which way the court rules.
Also read | Timeline: the Musk-Twitter saga
Global regulators agree on ‘same risk, same rules’ for stablecoins
Global regulators have adopted proposals which seek to regulate stablecoins on the same lines as traditional forms of payment — their latest attempt to regulate the volatile crypto sector.
The regulators, which comprise IOSCO, the global body for securities regulators, and Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a forum for central banks, issued the statement in light of the recent collapse of the stablecoin terraUSD and crypto lender Voyager Digital going broke. Earlier, the EU had also proposed landmark rules to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Quote: The new guidance shows when existing payment sector rules should apply to large stablecoins, marking a major step forward in applying “same risk, same regulation”, they said.
Meanwhile, bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capitals’s liquidators have received US court permission to seize the assets of the Singapore-based lender.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Zaheer Merchant in Mumbai and Ruchir Vyas in New Delhi. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi.
