a lobby group including apple inc and other technology giants operating in india called out the countrys authorities for misunderstanding how patent fees work following local officials dispute with xiaomi corpin a letter to ministries the india cellular and electronics association urged the federal government to intervene and accused the countrys enforcement agencies of a lack of understanding of royalty payments in the technology industryindias antimoneylaundering agency is accusing xiaomi of moving money out of the country by falsely claiming it was for patentfee payments the agency seized more than 700 million from a local unit of the chinese smartphone maker in april a move that has since been put on hold pending a final court decision advt while the lobby groups letter didnt name the xiaomi case specifically it warned that accusing companies of illegal royalty payments could have a chilling effect on business in the country the risk for the other companies is that indian authorities apply similar interpretation of royalty payments to other tech firms too xiaomi is a member of the icea as are rivals including chinas oppo and homegrown firm lava as well as apple and its suppliers foxconn technology group and wistron corpxiaomi has disputed indias asset seizure arguing that its patentfee payments are justified and its statements to financial institutions have been accurate indian authorities said xiaomis local unit remitted money to three foreignbased entities with ties to xiaomi masking them as royalty paymentsenforcement authorities have taken a stance that royalty is a simple way to take money out of india the lobby group said in its may 30 letter addressed to the federal finance trade and tech ministers and seen by bloomberg news we appreciate that it is the duty of agencies to identify malpractice in india but in this case they are not wellbriefed patent implementers are doubly embattled paying onerous royalty on one side and facing and fearing enforcement actions on the otherindias finance trade and tech ministries and the antimoneylaundering agency didnt immediately respond to requests for comment advt xiaomi has argued that it is being targeted because it is chinese insisting that the payments abroad were royalty remittances for using patented technology companies worldwide pay billions of dollars in such fees annually for using each others intellectual propertytax raids on xiaomi and allegations of money laundering have dented the companys brand image in the country where it is the top seller of smartphones but the dispute over what counts as royalties could have implications on other smartphone and electronics companies with operations in indiaindias crackdown on xiaomi is part of a broader scrutiny of chinese companies after a himalayan border clash between the two nucleararmed neighbors in 2020 new delhi has since banned more than 200 mobile apps from chinese providers including shopping services from alibaba group holding ltd and bytedance ltds popular tiktok video appindia is also probing the local units of chinas zte corp and vivo mobile communications co for alleged financial improprieties bloomberg news reported