DHAKA: Nokia faces a setback in plans to transfer its Indian handset assets to Microsoft, after a new court ruling set additional conditions on the deal.

In December, Nokia appeared to win an important reprieve in the group’s USD 1.1 billion tax dispute in India, when a court in New Delhi ruled that company could transfer the Chennai factory.

However, last week another court ruling imposed extra conditions on the company, which it said were ‘unacceptable’, the Financial Times reports, says telecompaper.com.

Nokia said it would not be able to transfer the assets, and the ruling puts the continuity of its operations in India in jeopardy.

It has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in the hope of reversing the ruling. The court asked Nokia to make an open-ended guarantee that the company would meet any future tax claims relating to the dispute.

Nokia said this would stop the group defending itself against claims, a step it is unwilling to take. Nokia’s original dispute related to tax allegedly due on payments by the group’s Indian subsidiary to its Finnish parent.

BDST: 1651 HRS, FEB 13, 2014