Highlights
- The GST rate on smartphones has been raised to 18-percent
- Smartphone brands like Vivo, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, Samsung etc have all increased prices of their phones.
- The price hike has affected budget as well as flagship phones
The government of India has raised the GST rate on smartphones, making the phones costlier than before. Since 1st April 2020, the GST rate on smartphones has been raised to 18-percent, up from 12-percent. This move by the government has led the manufacturers to increase the prices of their current lineup. Smartphone brands like Vivo, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, Samsung etc have all increased prices of their phones.
The price hike has affected budget as well as flagship phones. The flagships are even costlier now. The recently launched Realme 6 is now priced at Rs. 13,999 which is Rs. 1000 more than before and the Realme 6 Pro is now priced at Rs. 17,999 which is Rs. 1000 more than before . Similarly, the Realme flagship, Realme X2 Pro is now priced at Rs. 29,999 i.e. Rs. 2000 costlier than before.
The tabular representation of the prices of the leading smartphones in India is given below.
Realme Smartphones
| Model | Old Price (Rs) | New Price (Rs) |
| Realme 5 Pro | 12,999 | 13,999 |
| Realme 5i | 8,999 | 9,999 |
| Realme 5s | 9,999 | 10,999 |
| Realme 6 | 12,999 | 13,999 |
| Realme 6 Pro | 16,999 | 17,999 |
| Realme C3 | 6,999 | 7,499 |
| Realme X | 16,999 | 17,999 |
| Realme X2 | 16,999 | 17,999 |
| Realme X2 Pro | 27,999 | 29,999 |
| Realme XT | 15,999 | 16,999 |
Xiaomi Smartphones
| Model | Old Price (Rs) | New Price (Rs) |
| Mi A3 (4GB + 64GB) | 11,999 | 12,999 |
| Mi A3 (6GB + 128GB) | 14,999 | 14,999 |
| Redmi 7A (2GB + 16GB) | 5,999 | 6,499 |
| Redmi 7A (2GB + 32GB) | 6,199 | 6,699 |
| Redmi 8 (4GB + 64GB) | 7,999 | 8,999 |
| Redmi 8A (2GB + 32GB) | 6,499 | 6,999 |
| Redmi 8A Dual (2GB + 32GB) | 6,499 | 6,999 |
| Redmi 8A Dual (3GB + 32GB) | 6,999 | 7,999 |
| Redmi Go (1GB + 16GB) | 4,499 | 4,999 |
| Redmi K20 (6GB + 128GB) | 22,999 | 24,999 |
| Redmi K20 (6GB + 64GB) | 19,999 | 21,999 |
| Redmi K20 Pro (6GB + 128GB) | 24,999 | 26,999 |
| Redmi K20 Pro (8GB + 256GB) | 27,999 | 29,999 |
| Redmi Note 7 Pro (4GB + 64GB) | 10,999 | 10,999 |
| Redmi Note 7 Pro (6GB + 128GB) | 13,999 | 13,999 |
| Redmi Note 7 Pro (6GB + 64GB) | 12,999 | 12,999 |
| Redmi Note 8 (4GB + 64GB) | 10,499 | 10,999 |
| Redmi Note 8 (6GB + 128GB) | 12,999 | 13,999 |
| Redmi Note 8 Pro (6GB + 128GB) | 15,999 | 16,999 |
| Redmi Note 8 Pro (6GB + 64GB) | 14,999 | 15,999 |
| Redmi Note 8 Pro (8GB + 128GB) | 17,999 | 18,999 |
| Redmi Note 9 Pro (4GB + 64GB) | 12,999 | 13,999 |
| Redmi Note 9 Pro (6GB + 128GB | 15,999 | 16,999 |
| Redmi Note 9 Pro Max (6GB + 128GB) | 16,999 | 17,999 |
| Redmi Note 9 Pro Max (6GB + 64GB) | 14,999 | 16,499 |
| Redmi Note 9 Pro Max (8GB + 128GB) | 18,999 | 19,999 |
Nokia Smartphones
| Model | Old Price (Rs) | New Price (Rs) |
| Nokia 2.3 | 7,199 | 7,585 |
| Nokia 3.2 | 7,999 | 8,428 |
| Nokia 6.2 | 12,499 | 13,168 |
| Nokia 7.2 | 15,499 | 16,330 |
| Nokia 9 Pureview | 49,999 | 52,677 |
Poco Smartphones
| Model | Original Price (Rs) | New Price (Rs) |
| POCO X2 (6GB+128GB) | 16,999 | 17,999 |
| POCO X2 (6GB+64GB) | 15,999 | 16,999 |
| POCO X2 (8GB+256GB) | 19,999 | 20,999 |
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the GST rates are more or less fixed now and this would be highly unlikely that the decision could be rolled back.
government may reduce GST on low end smartphones.
This is highly unlikely. Considering the corona virus pandemic, the GST rates might get a little hike in near future as well. This is not official, just my opinion.