Updated: June 17, 2026
When the invoices for a campus refresh landed at a Pune auto-components maker, the CFO noticed something odd. The routers had arrived at the quoted price. The switches had not. Same vendor, same rack, same project. The difference sat in eight digits her procurement team had never read: the HSN code, and the customs treatment hiding behind it.
Most IT teams treat tax lines as someone else's problem. Then a bid comparison goes wrong by 20 per cent, or an input-credit claim bounces, and finance wants answers. Ten minutes here saves that meeting.
Cisco switches and routers fall under HSN code 8517 62 90: machines for the reception, conversion and transmission of data, including switching and routing apparatus. The same code covers nearly all enterprise networking hardware in India, from a Catalyst 9200 access switch to a Catalyst 8500 WAN router.
State the code in your purchase order and tender documents. Every bidder then prices the same tax, and your comparison stays honest. Leave it out and one quote may hide duty in the unit price while another does not.
GST on networking equipment under HSN 8517 62 90 is 18 per cent, for switches and routers alike, and it stayed at 18 per cent through the 2025 slab rework (Busy, Pocketful).
| Item | Classification | GST | Basic Customs Duty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Routers (Catalyst 8000, ISR) | HSN 8517 62 90 | 18% | Nil under ITA-1 |
| Ethernet switches (Catalyst, Nexus, Meraki MS) | HSN 8517 62 90 | 18% | Up to 20%; 10% concessional for qualifying carrier Ethernet switches |
| Software licences (Network Advantage, DNA) | Service (SAC) | 18% | None |
| Support contracts (SmartNet, partner support) | Service (SAC) | 18% | None |
Routers are covered by the Information Technology Agreement (ITA-1), under which India eliminated customs duty, so they enter at zero BCD. Ethernet switches enjoy no blanket cover: the general BCD under 8517 62 90 runs to 20 per cent, with a concessional 10 per cent for qualifying carrier Ethernet switches (CusBuzz, KNN India).
Two boxes, one rack, very different journeys through Nhava Sheva. The importer pays the duty, but it flows into your quote. Why do two offers for the same switch differ by a sixth? Often because one seller imported under the correct classification and the other priced in a dispute with customs.
The Make in India angle now has teeth too. Cisco builds networking hardware at its Chennai facility, which changes the import arithmetic for qualifying SKUs. Ask your partner which line items ship from Oragadam rather than overseas.
Hardware is goods; subscriptions and support are services. The Network Advantage licence, the SmartNet contract, the Meraki dashboard: each carries 18 per cent GST under a services accounting code, attracts no customs duty, and belongs on its own invoice line.
A quote that buries licences inside the hardware price is not doing you a favour. It muddies your input-credit trail and your renewal baseline three years from now. Insist on the split. (Our guide to reading a Cisco BoQ covers this line by line.)
Yes. A registered business claims the full 18 per cent GST as input tax credit when the network serves business use, which it does by definition. The credit dies on a defective invoice: wrong GSTIN, missing HSN, a supplier who never filed. Government buyers have a different chore: deducting GST TDS at 2 per cent on contracts above the threshold, with the HSN code again deciding the paperwork.
So the question for your next procurement is not "what is the price?" but "what does this quote look like after duty, credit and audit?" The cheapest unit price loses surprisingly often.
A box-seller quotes a price. Proactive Data Systems, a 35-year-old system integrator with more than 1,500 customers and a Cisco Preferred partner across networking, security, collaboration, cloud and AI, and services, quotes a landed, compliant, credit-clean BoQ: HSN stated, hardware and services split, duty treatment correct, invoices that survive your auditor. Tax is not our product. Networks that clear finance without a single query are.
Disclaimer:
This article is general information, not tax, legal or customs advice. GST rates, customs duties, exemption notifications and classification practice changes, and their application depend on your organisation's facts, registrations and the specific products imported or supplied. Verify current rates against official notifications from the GST Council and CBIC, and consult your tax adviser or customs broker before acting on anything written here. Proactive Data Systems accepts no liability for decisions made based on this article.
Proactive, Enterprise Networking Team
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