Bangladesh has sharply reduced taxes on mobile phone imports and local manufacturing, to stabilize prices, boost domestic production and curb the widespread use of unofficial and smuggled handsets.

The overall import duty on mobile phones has been cut to 43.43% from 61.8%, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said on Wednesday after an Advisory Council meeting at the Foreign Service Academy.

Customs duty on imported handsets has been lowered to 10% from 25%, while the rate on locally manufactured phones has been reduced to 5% from 10%. Mr Alam said the overall tax burden on locally produced phones would fall significantly under the new structure.

The government expects the measures to encourage local manufacturing, attract new investment and make handsets more affordable for consumers, while discouraging the inflow of used and refurbished devices.

The announcement coincided with the launch of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), a system designed to identify and block unauthorised mobile phones from operating on local networks.

Industry data suggest the challenge is substantial. According to figures from the Mobile Phone Industry Owners’ Association and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), grey-market smartphones currently account for 40%-50% of total handset sales in the country.

Officials say the combination of lower taxes and tighter enforcement under NEIR is intended to shift consumers toward officially imported and locally manufactured phones, thereby strengthening regulation of the fast-growing mobile market.