Govt cuts duties on imported mobile phones, premium handset RD falls 20%

Profit by Pakistan Today reported, citing a Ministry of Commerce brief, that the government has lowered regulatory duty and additional customs duty on imported mobile phones for FY2026-27. The steepest reduction falls on smartphones valued above $500, where regulatory duty drops by a fifth to Rs17,600 per unit. Additional customs duty on the listed smartphone and cellular-phone categories has also come down from 6% to 4% under the tariff rationalisation linked to the National Tariff Policy 2025-30.

Lower-priced models also gained relief, with duty on handsets up to $30 falling from Rs300 to Rs240 and the $100 to $200 band dropping from Rs7,500 to Rs6,000. Phones in the $350 to $500 range now attract Rs12,000 instead of Rs15,000 in regulatory duty. Units imported in partly assembled or kit form face a 4% regulatory duty, down from 5%, along with additional customs duty cut to 4% from 6%.

The adjustments follow a sharp rise in handset imports, which climbed to $1.888 billion in FY2025-26 from $1.497 billion a year earlier. Shipments of fully built CBU phones more than doubled, totalling $357.7 million. The Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy 2020-25 has lapsed and its successor is still awaiting federal approval, yet incentives under the old scheme stay shielded by the Fifth Schedule of the Customs Act, 1969.