The National Board of Revenue has lowered customs duties on imported mobile phones and assembly components, aiming to keep handsets affordable for ordinary consumers. The revenue authority rolled out the changes through two separate notifications issued on Tuesday.

Duties on fully assembled imported phones have been cut to 10 percent from 25 percent, a reduction of nearly 60 percent in the import levy. The move could reduce as much as BDT 5,500 off the price of an imported handset costing more than BDT 30,000.

Alongside that cut, and to shield the domestic assembly industry, the revenue authority reduced duties on components imported by local assembly plants. That rate has been halved, falling from 10 percent to 5 percent.

For the assembly sector, the lower duty could reduce the price of a locally assembled phone priced above BDT 30,000 by about BDT 1,500, the NBR said.

The board said the duty relief on both finished handsets and assembly parts was intended to keep mobile phones across price ranges within reach of the general public, while also widening access to digital services nationwide.