Another example of govt's 'First Act, Subsequently Think' approach: Cong after govt tweaks licensing norms for laptop imports

The Congress on Friday took a swipe at the government over the changes in the new licensing norms to import IT hardware products such as laptops, saying it was yet another example of the Modi government’s ‘First Act, Subsequently Think’ approach.

The opposition party’s dig came after the government tweaked the licensing norms to import IT hardware products like laptops and computers and put in place an online authorisation system for importers of these goods.

After taking into account the concerns of stakeholders of the sector, some ”tweaking” in the policy was made and an end-to-end online system was launched for importers, an official said on Thursday.

In a post on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, ”Yet another example of Modi Govt’s FAST (First Act, Subsequently Think) approach: On August 3, 2023 mandatory licensing system was announced for imports of electronic goods like laptops & tablets. Expectedly, the announcement was widely and rightly criticised.” ”On August 4, 2023 the government deferred the licensing system by introducing a three-month-long transition period. On October 13, 2023, complete withdrawal of laptop import restrictions announced. So this is the cycle. Announce then, Defer then, Withdraw (sic),” Ramesh said.

The government in August imposed import restrictions on laptops, computers (including tablet computers), microcomputers, large or mainframe computers, and certain data processing machines. Following this notification, the IT hardware industry had flagged concerns.