If you’re planning to buy a new smartphone in Bangladesh, you might want to pull the trigger within the next few days. Starting July 1, that exact same phone could cost you a few thousand Taka more.
Here is what is happening behind the scenes: back in January, the interim government temporarily slashed import duties on mobile phones by 15% to help lower prices and boost the legal market.
However, that tax holiday expires on June 30. Unless the government makes a last-minute decision to extend it, import taxes will spike right back up on July 1, and the retail market is going to feel it immediately.
The Mobile Phone Industry Owners Association of Bangladesh (MIOB) recently sent an urgent letter to the telecom regulator (BTRC) sounding the alarm.
They warned that if this tax benefit disappears, the total tax burden on legally imported phones will soar to a massive 64.25%.
According to MIOB, this change could push retail smartphone prices up by 20% to 25%.
Zakaria Shahid, president of MIOB, explained that global prices for essential components—like memory chips, motherboards, CPUs, and batteries—are already rising.
Manufacturers are struggling to keep prices down as it is, so combining global inflation with a steep local tax hike creates a perfect storm for the consumer.
To make matters more uncertain, the government didn't include an extension for this tax relief in the newly proposed national budget, leaving businesses and buyers waiting anxiously to see if a late intervention will happen.
This price hike could inadvertently fuel a problem the government has been actively trying to stop: the "unofficial" or grey market.
Bangladesh has successfully built a solid local mobile manufacturing and assembly industry over the last decade.
However, local plants mostly assemble low- to mid-range devices.
High-end, premium models from brands like Apple, Google, Huawei, Motorola, Samsung, and Xiaomi are rarely made locally due to complex supply chains, specialized parts, and lower market volume.
Since legally imported official phones carry high taxes, many buyers turn to unauthorized, "unofficial" channels where phones are smuggled in and sold cheaper.
Earlier this year, the BTRC introduced the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) to crack down on grey-market phones and recover lost government revenue.
The 15% tax cut in January was actually designed to work alongside NEIR—by making official phones cheaper, the government hoped to incentivize people to buy legal.
Unfortunately, it didn't play out quite as planned. Even after the tax cut, phone brands actually raised prices by Tk500 to Tk5,000, blaming the global surge in chip prices.
Walk into any major shopping mall in Dhaka today, and you will still easily find unofficial phones being sold openly.
Everyday consumers foot the bill
If the tax relief expires, everyday consumers will be the ones carrying the financial burden.
IT entrepreneur Fahim Mashroor expressed deep concern over how this impacts regular citizens.
He pointed out that smartphones are no longer a luxury item or a status symbol; they are the literal gateway to education, earning a livelihood, and accessing essential digital services.
Making smartphones more expensive essentially prices people out of the digital economy.
Instead of taxing them heavily, Mashroor argues that smartphones should be treated as vital digital infrastructure and kept as affordable as possible.
For now, the entire mobile market is holding its breath to see if the government will offer a last-minute extension before the July 1 deadline.