Motor traders welcome move to regularise motor vehicle imports
View(s):Motor traders say that the new government has taken a bold step towards regularising Sri Lanka’s motor trade and vehicle importation by introducing an annual licence fee of Rs. 1.5 million for brand new and used vehicle importers in the budget presented in parliament on Thursday.
President of the Ceylon Motor Traders’ Association, Gihan Pilapitiya told the Business Times that this was a positive move aimed at preventing the mushrooming of vehicle importers in the country.
The government will formulate a list of registered vehicle importers to facilitate the proposed licensing process.
The present practice of anybody and everybody becoming importers will come to an end with the implementation of the licensing scheme, he added.
The new tax system enforced in the budget should be clearly clarified in a gazette notification for them to determine the price of the vehicle although there will be a definite price reduction by 15 per cent on small cars with engine capacity of less than 1,000, he emphasized.
The price of small cars like Maruti will come down by Rs.75,000 to Rs.100,000 while the revision of excise taxes on hybrid vehicles will lift the prices by Rs.800,000 to Rs.1.5 million.
The price of electric cars will be reduced considerably as the taxes have been reduced to 5 per cent from 20 per cent, he said, adding that this is a far reaching move aimed at preventing air pollution and making the country green. The government’s decision to appoint a high level committee to carry out a comprehensive audit and verification process to ascertain the veracity of details provided to the approving authorities by companies in the motor vehicle assembly industry in the country is also commendable, Mr. Pilpapitiya said.