Mumbai: The Income Tax Department initiated an investigation into caller ID and spam blocking app Truecaller for alleged violation of transfer pricing regulations and conducted raids at multiple locations on Thursday morning.
The taxmen conducted raids on Truecaller’s head offices at Gurugram and other premises linked to the mobile app with 40 crore Indian users to screen spam calls. India accounts for 80% of Truecaller revenues and over 70% of daily active users came from the Indian market.
The Stockholm based Truecaller had last month launched Fraud Insurance in partnership with HDFC Ergo to offer additional protection to premium subscribers in case they fall victim to fraud.
The tax authorities have enhanced scrutiny on transfer pricing regulations to ensure that transactions between related entities across borders are conducted at market value, preventing profit shifting to lower-tax jurisdictions. The tax probes on multinational corporations to ensure compliance in the tech and digital sectors has been widened to plug revenue leakages.
“Truecaller is currently assisting the authorities to the full extent at our offices,” the company said in a statement, adding it is currently awaiting official confirmation and communication from the tax departments. “This is not an uncommon practice, and Truecaller will cooperate fully with the relevant authorities.”
The The Stockholm-based company operates a smartphone application that has features like caller ID, call blocking, flash messaging, call recording, chat and voice using internet.
The company insisted that its practices are ‘entirely transparent’ and is not subject to any tax investigation in India outside the routine tax audits.
“Truecaller’s group financial statements have always received an unqualified audit opinion. Truecaller has always paid all taxes due in India and all regions where it operates,” the statement said.
