Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Indian Government Lifts Nokia's Asset Freeze, Factory Can Transfer To Microsoft

Posted by timothy on from the what-the-market-will-bear dept.

rjmarvin writes "The Delhi High Court approved an appeal by Nokia today to unfreeze the company's Indian assets, including the Chennai mobile phone factory set to be transferred to Microsoft as part of its devices and services acquisition. The decision was contingent on Nokia putting $367 million in escrow to go towards its imposed taxes. Nokia lobbied to lift the freeze to avoid holding up the deal or being forced to stay on as a subcontractor, though they're still on the hook for taxes and penalties to the tune of up to $3.4 billion for a financial period dating back to 2006. Microsoft, though, is in the clear."

32 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. The Way India Works... by jazman_777 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We know this means, "The bribe went through with great success!"

    --
    Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    1. Re:The Way India Works... by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wow, that took a lot of courage, to post as yourself rather than anonymously.

      Made you look!

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    2. Re:The Way India Works... by hydrofix · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Indeed. Even Google, Apple and Amazon full-heartedly agree that paying taxes is not a duty of the tech companies.

    3. Re:The Way India Works... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Whereas in the West we just say that corporate lobbyists were successful in establishing a win to leverage existing synergies and ensure a deal which will be beneficial to all parties.

      I'm not sure I see a whole lot of difference, really. :-P

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:The Way India Works... by Razalhague · · Score: 1

      Made you look!

      No you didn't, because when someone posts anonymously, they don't get notifications about replies, so they will most likely never know that you replied. Remember, only reply to ACs if you think it will help some other reader. Replying to them in the hopes that they will read your reply is delusional.

    5. Re:The Way India Works... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > There is still some review from the DA's office. They don't like to just lose cases.

      Sigh. One would think so. Still, strange things happen in court.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    6. Re:The Way India Works... by war4peace · · Score: 1

      what happens if you're logged in but choose to post anonymously? I'm asking because I never tried, nor will I; I'm proud of my often-mocked username.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    7. Re:The Way India Works... by war4peace · · Score: 1

      It's less direct. And without discussing the legal or ethical comparisons, hiding it better helps the blue collar.
      A country which appears to be more honest will get more contracts and there will be more jobs involved, because strictly between the two, a business will pick the one where corruption is less visible.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    8. Re:The Way India Works... by Razalhague · · Score: 2

      No notification in that case either.

    9. Re:The Way India Works... by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      because strictly between the two, a business will pick the one where corruption is less visible.

      Or more readily exploited.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    10. Re:The Way India Works... by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Thank you.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  2. Reason 834 why not to do business in India by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Personally I think that India is quite cool; but it would never enter my head in a million years to do business where any Indian official could screw things up. Maybe I am completely wrong but this is the perception of every business person I know including Indians who regularly navigate those dangerous waters.

    India regularly complains that they don't get any respect from the western business world who only want to sell their products in India from afar. It makes me wonder what kind of powerhouse India could be if there wasn't this ever present threat that either a corrupt official (at any one of the 10,000 government departments) will demand a bribe, or the ever present threat that a local competitor will use officialdom to shut you out of the Indian market.

    If it is this bad for outsiders how terrible is it for Indians who manage to have some success?

    1. Re:Reason 834 why not to do business in India by hydrofix · · Score: 3, Informative

      The corruption in India is indeed rampant and throughout. One of the most astonishing forms I have seen are the "living dead", where authorities are bribed to declare you dead, so that someone can meanwhile and unbeknownst to you make a claim to your inheritance. For this particular poor fellow, it took mere 19 years of battling against the authorities until a court finally acknowledged him actually being alive.

    2. Re:Reason 834 why not to do business in India by Freshly+Exhumed · · Score: 1

      Just about every significant philosophic or religious personage in history has said that corruption is *everywhere*.

      --
      I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
    3. Re:Reason 834 why not to do business in India by sustik · · Score: 1

      I wonder whether anyone thought to exploit this. For example, it seems that he would not have to pay for traffic tickets. Simply send in a letter that says he cannot pay the fine because he is dead.

      (However, I would not think that a "living dead" would get away with destroying property or with murder.)

    4. Re:Reason 834 why not to do business in India by the_arrow · · Score: 1

      Traffic tickets in India? Have you seen how they drive there?

      Now not paying taxes, on the other hand, that will sure make the authorities wake up and take action.

      --
      / The Arrow
      "How lovely you are. So lovely in my straightjacket..." - Nny
    5. Re:Reason 834 why not to do business in India by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 1

      Absolutely, Canada is quite corrupt, and even worse the corruption is really pathetic. The most common form of corruption that I have seen is where a politician will get some minor help on their campaign, and then will lavish the helper with wildly disproportionate government love. This ranges from people who simply work on the campaign to advertising companies who do discount work on people's campaigns.

      Then you get the traditional love that is lavished upon Quebec. Traditionally (pre-Harper and pre Bloc Quebec) Quebec voted as a fairly solid block(25%). The rest of Canada would generally be a random mix of Liberal and PC; so whomever won Quebec won Canada. The result was that the federal government firehosed any benefits they could in the direction of Quebec ranging from an excess of Quebec Cabinet ministers to ever federal government office being well staffed with people from Quebec to regulations that favor various industries in Quebec. Under Harper (not my favorite guy) this was significantly reduced. But in all likelihood Trudeau is going to be the next PM and the bad old days will return.

      But back to India; I don't know a single business person who will deal with India in any way shape or form. I know one guy($80 million a year sales) who threw purchase orders from Indian companies into a draw reserved for countries he didn't trust (India, Nigeria, etc) and said that nobody in his industry would do business with India. (That said, he also wouldn't do business with his own state government as he considered it to be equally corrupt). His experience was that bank drafts were fake 100% of the time and the single time he did business with a "reputable" company he insisted that they wire the money to him first. He forgot about them until a few days later the $30,000 showed up in his bank account. So he duly shipped off the goods only to have the $30,000 disappear. He contacted the bank as wire transfers should not be reversible but it turned out the company had FedEx'd his bank a fake bank draft and the bank had deposited it making it look like a wire transfer. The cheque was even from a company called "Wire Trans." But as it was fake it bounced but only after he had shipped the goods. Needless to say he was unable to pursue this in the Indian justice system. The lucky thing was that a week later he was at a trade show where he told the story to dozens, many of whom were waiting for or had just received a similar "wire transfer".

      As for saying to to preach, I will admit that corruption is rife here but so bad in India as to be crippling. Hence your Zero rupee note. The key difference is that reputable companies in Canada generally will not rip you off as the justice/court system will get them in the end. But we do have fly by night companies so we are not perfect.

  3. Corrupt Indians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Funny how the sum suddenly rose from 300 million to 1.1 Billion and now it is suddenly 3.4 Billion. I guess the Indians saw that big check coming from Microsoft and wanted their share of it. This kind of thing is outright theft so let's hope others start to think twice before outsourcing to India.

    1. Re:Corrupt Indians by ausekilis · · Score: 1

      This kind of thing is outright theft so let's hope others start to think twice before outsourcing to India.

      But then who will answer all my technical support questions?

    2. Re:Corrupt Indians by singhulariti · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Funny how when the US govt. accuses tech companies of avoiding taxes, the tech companies are evil and when India asserts the same thing they are thieves.

    3. Re:Corrupt Indians by RabidReindeer · · Score: 2

      This kind of thing is outright theft so let's hope others start to think twice before outsourcing to India.

      But then who will answer all my technical support questions?

      Have you tried turning off and back on again?

    4. Re:Corrupt Indians by formfeed · · Score: 1

      I can't believe it.
      Already seven messages calling Indians corrupt and thieves, and no mention of government subsidies for the reservations.

    5. Re:Corrupt Indians by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Dots, not feathers

    6. Re:Corrupt Indians by dr_leviathan · · Score: 1

      Actually we know that big tech companies are evil (they are motivated by profit for shareholders and little else). What is catching everyone's eye, and fitting well with our collective understanding of India's economy and politcs, is how fast that thievery was "solved". At least in the EU or US the owed taxes would have taken a few months to work their way through the courts. In India it is solved in days. The first thing I thought, and many others did too, is that somewhere there are some Indian officials with some fresh money in their pockets, and the Indian public has been robbed once again.

      --
      Religion is poison to rationality, and we lose sight of that at our own peril. -- Lurker2288
    7. Re:Corrupt Indians by ak3ldama · · Score: 1

      I think what this may be alluding to is the debt acting as a tax shield. I am not an accountant... I just pay attention when I read the news, this happens all the time with mergers. I have not paid too much attention to this Nokia-MS deal though and I might be wrong.

      --
      "but money is the God of Algiers & Mahomet their prophet." - Rich. O'Bryen June 8th 1786
    8. Re:Corrupt Indians by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Philippines people. Haven't you heard? it's the new "Cloud" buzzword for support.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    9. Re:Corrupt Indians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In the EU/US, people know in advance what the laws is and what taxes should be paid and there would have been no problem in first place. In this case, laws were changed in 2012 (finance act of 2012) and they want to retroactively apply them to Nokia by charging for taxes going back to 2006.

    10. Re:Corrupt Indians by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      This kind of thing is outright theft so let's hope others start to think twice before outsourcing to India.

      But then who will answer all my technical support questions?

      Maybe someone who actually knows the answer?

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  4. Finally by formfeed · · Score: 1

    With transfer of ownership comes the great opportunity to turn the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships into an exclusive Microsoft event.

  5. huh, some success by swschrad · · Score: 1

    all that means is you can now formally forward the extortion threat to your new overlords. somebody who is anxious at not "getting a taste" can get this bumped up to $5 billion at the drop of a hat.

    this court just dotted the "i"s. somebody else will get to cross the "t"s.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  6. Corruption? Maybe. But what if... by Dracos · · Score: 2

    ...the real reason this got cleared is that MS assured the Indian government that all Nokia phones in India would have a backdoor accessible by the Indian government, like they demanded from BlackBerry?

  7. You have no idea of what you are talking about... by bayankaran · · Score: 2

    If it is this bad for outsiders how terrible is it for Indians who manage to have some success?

    I don't think you have any idea about India, except some anecdotal tales from "businessmen who were treading dangerous waters".
    I am yet to see Indians complaining of lack of respect from Western business world. I don't know what you are talking about...did an Indian say, "please white brother, please respect us".
    There are enough Indian companies in various verticals thriving in India. The corruption you are talking about exists in different forms all over the world. In the most business friendly country - US - it will be lobbying groups buying access and may be lawmakers and laws themselves. The corruption which exists in India is of the same character...no need to vilify this country with an extra dose of scorn. And a small country like Canada (you guys have the population of my home state, Kerala, and I know about your country, I was a landed immigrant in Canada who got bored of your country and returned to India) or Scandinavian nations does not make a valid comparison. If you compare Canada with Kerala it may make sense...Kerala has 100% literacy and is relatively non corrupt. If the state was a country, we would be up in Transparency Index rankings.
    Judiciary is relatively non-corrupt in India. It was the Delhi High Court which lifted the freeze of assets. A commentator made a sarcastic note "someone was bribed". I don't think so. No one with some common sense will try to bribe a Delhi High Court judge, there is no need in this case and it can backfire spectacularly.

    --
    Tat Tvam Asi