Realme increases price of its smartphones to offset GST

These changes are being made as the government has hiked GST rates on smartphones from 12% to 18%.

The new GST rates come into effect on April 1. (Realme)

Realme Mobiles on Wednesday announced that it was increasing prices of its smartphones in India. The decision comes as GST rates on smartphones increases from 12% to 18% starting today.

The company said that the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the fluctuating value of the Indian Rupee has impacted the overall cost of the smartphones, which in turn has forced many smartphone makers to raise prices of their smartphones.

"Today we are announcing that realme smartphones will have to boost the prices up for the first time since 2018...We sincerely hope you will continue to support not only us but also the whole smartphone industry, for more amazing technologies and surprises in the future," Realme said adding that all the adjusted prices of Realme smartphones have been listed on the company's official website.

For most parts, the hike in the price of Realme smartphones seems to be between ₹500 to ₹1,000. For instance, the 4GB RAM and 64GB memory variant of the Realme 6 that was launched in India for ₹12,999 is now available for ₹13,999. Similarly, the Realme C3 and the Realme 5i, which were launched in India for ₹6,999 and ₹8,999 respectively, are now available for ₹7,499 and ₹9,999. You can check prices of other Realme smartphones on the Realme India's website.

It is worth noting that apart from Realme, Xiaomi and Oppo too have announced an increase in their prices owing to the implementation of the new GST rates. "After much deliberation & in keeping with Xiaomi policy of maintaining <5% margin on our hardware products, we will be increasing prices of our products," Xiaomi VP and India MD Manu Kumar Jain said in a statement.