Wired headsets are not mobile phone parts for customs exemption when they remain usable with multiple devices.

Wired headsets imported under Customs Tariff Heading 8518 were held not to be parts of cellular mobile phones for purposes of Notification No. 57/2017-Cus. The exclusion in the notification applied only where microphone, wired headsets and receivers functioned as parts of mobile phones, and the analysis noted that wired headsets are capable of use with multiple electronic devices and do not become a phone's part merely because they can be used with it. The earlier view taken in the same appellant's case was followed for the subsequent assessment year, and denial of the exemption was found unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether wired headsets imported under Customs Tariff Heading 8518 were excluded from the benefit of Notification No. 57/2017-Cus dated 30.06.2017 on the ground that they were parts of cellular mobile phones.

Analysis: The exclusion in the notification applied only to microphone, wired headsets and receivers when they were parts of cellular mobile phones. Wired headsets are capable of use with multiple electronic devices and are not essential components of a mobile phone. A device that merely adds utility to a mobile phone does not become its part merely because it can be used with it. The earlier decision on the same appellant and notification was followed for the subsequent assessment year.

Conclusion: Wired headsets imported by the appellant were not parts of cellular mobile phones and were entitled to the benefit of the exemption notification. The denial of exemption was unsustainable.

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