Due to discontent about Nokia's heavy fines on selling beyond agreed areas, 40 dealers in Jinan of Shandong province have jointly started a protest against Nokia and refuse to sell its handsets.

These 40 dealers are all vendors in Jinan's Shandong Communication City, where a red banner saying "protect the interests and rights of consumers, refuse to sell Nokia" is hung. A representative from these protesters told local media that they want an explanation from Nokia on why Nokia levies fines for their sales activities. The sellers cannot accept the huge fines and ask Nokia to return the money to them. The representative revealed that dealers in Hangzhou also asked Nokia to return their money a few days ago. Over 200 Chinese dealers of Nokia gathered in Changsha, Hunan, in late May, also discussing a protest against Nokia.

The dealers' anger stems from Nokia's heavy fines on selling beyond agreed areas, which dealers say constricts their ability to earn money. In addition, Nokia's management center for auditing if they sell beyond agreed areas is allegedly an unidentified third-party company, which did not provide receipts when levying fines. This is a suspected way of tax evasion, said the dealers.

In regards to the dispute, Nokia has reportedly published an emergency declaration and states that the accusation of tax evasion by the dealers is irresponsible. Meanwhile, Nokia questions the identities of the dealers, saying that some of the dealers are not included in Nokia's distribution system and do not have any contractual relationship or buyer-seller relationship with Nokia.