Iran: New Move to Calm Cellphone Market

EghtesadOnline: In order to mitigate the raging inflation in the mobile phone market, authorities will distribute 650,000 handsets at moderate prices in the market this week.

News ID: ۷۸۳۸۱۹

27 August 2018

Thousands of mobile phone devices were seized from importers who had used subsidized foreign currency to bring products into the country but had sold or attempted to sell them according to the inflated USD rate in the free market.

Head of the Mobile Phone Sellers Union Ebrahim Dorosti says a committee consisting of representatives from the ministries of industries and ICT along with members of Central Taskforce to Combat the Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Currency has devised a plan to regulate the mobile phone market and distribute the confiscated phones, Mehr News Agency reported.

According to Financial Tribune, Dorosti added, “This week the handsets stuck in customs’ warehouses and the seized phones will be distributed in the market.”

After US President Donald Trump reneged on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the dollar exchange rate hit unprecedented highs and compelled the government of President Hassan Rouhani to unify the rate at 42,000 rials.

The administration later established the Forex Deals Integrated System, or Nima, to assign 42,000 rials dollars to importers.

Widespread Wrongdoing

Reports released by authorities suggest that out of the 40 companies who received the subsidized currency to bring in mobile phones, 38 have either overcharged customers for the products or hoarded the handsets to later sell at higher prices.

The number of cellphones not released from the customs combined with the ones seized from importers totals 650,000 units.

Dorosti is optimistic that offering this volume of reasonably-priced mobile phones into the market will moderate prices.

The union head says they have asked the judiciary to release the names of the guilty parties in full and deny them the permission to ever engage in imports as well.