Several smartphone makers have increased the prices of their smartphones in India, with the new rates coming into effect from April 1. The latest change in rates come after the government’s decision to increase the Goods & Services Tax (GST) from 12% to 18%. The announcement was made by the finance minister last month and the new GST rates are applicable from April 1. 

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Chinese phone maker, Xiaomi has announced a price hike on it Mi and Redmi branded phones in the country. The new prices have come into effect. Xiaomi India chief Manu Kumar Jain tweeted that there has been a 50% jump in GST which has forced it to increase the price of phones and other hardware products by 5 per cent.

Xiaomi’s rival also increased the price of its smartphones due to multiple factors. It said that the recent COVID-19 pandemic has highly impacted the smartphone industry, leading to a price hike of components and supply shortage. Further, the Indian Rupee rate has been continuously fluctuating and facing depreciation currently, Realme said.

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“This has impacted the overall cost of the smartphone device, therefore many smartphone brands have already increased the price of smartphones in 2019 and 2020. Despite all these issues, Realme hasn't increased the price of our smartphones since H2 2018. Today we are announcing that Realme smartphones will have to boost the prices up for the first time since 2018,” the company said. 

Apple’s whole lineup also got more expensive by around 5%. There is a change all the way from the iPhone 7 with 32 GB to the iPhone 11 Pro Max with 512 GB storage.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Oppo has sent an updated list to its retailers with increased prices. 

Notably, customers cannot buy smartphones right now due to the ongoing lockdown in India.