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Motor Traffic Department applies brakes on illegal vehicle assembly points
Police are cracking down on illicit vehicle assembly points around the country after the Department of Motor Traffic received information of such assembly points, a senior official from the Department told the Sunday Times.
The department has granted approval to only seven companies to assemble and distribute vehicles in the country. However the department has received information that several illegal plants are producing vehicles by assembling spare parts.
“Our officials are being deployed around the country to track down these places,” Motor Traffic Commissioner General A.H.K Jagath Chandrasiri said.
On June 18, Police raided a garage in Sinhapitiya, Gampola following a tip off. A Honda car was getting a paint job at the garage, a police officer said. “The car, we suspected was fairly new which aroused suspicion as it displayed a Sri number plate rather than an English number plate,” he said.
Further investigations revealed that the chassis number of the vehicle had been tampered with. The Police found a registration book which appeared to be genuine. The chassis number recorded in the book, however, matched the number on the vehicle that had been tampered with, the Sunday Times was told.
“We believe that the suspect had changed the number to match with the registration book. We strongly suspect that this car was assembled in the country without receiving the proper approval from the Department of Motor Traffic. The numbers have been tampered with to sell the car to a buyer without raising any suspicion,” the Police officer said.
“We are awaiting a report from the examiner of motor vehicles in Kandy. We will also send the car to the Government Analyst’s Department for further examinations,” he said. The Sunday Times also learnt that several unauthorised vehicle assembly plants operate in areas such as Kurunegala, Nugegoda and Kuliyapitiya. The modus operandi is: The vehicles are dismantled in countries like Japan and China and shipped as vehicle spare parts. Sometimes, a vehicle is split into two parts which are imported in separate consignments. When the consignment arrives, the importer pays the duty levied on spare parts – much lesser than duty imposed on vehicles – and clears it. The consignment then arrives at the illegal assembly plant where the parts are put together to make a complete vehicle. Of course, the chassis number is tampered with to tally with a forged registration book. The vehicle is sold as a second hand vehicle.
“According to the law, if the customs officials are of the opinion that the spare parts could be assembled to produce a vehicle, the consignment could be seized or detained for further investigation,” Customs spokesperson Leslie Gamini said.“However the problem that we face is that some importers get down parts in two different vessels. Further the imports aren’t made at the same time. This is why there are several unauthorised vehicle assembly points in the country,” he added.
Mr. Gamini also added that this fraudulent practice deprives the country of hundreds of millions of rupees in tax revenue.
According to Vehicle Importers Association Co-President Kokila Deekiriwewa, approval has to be obtained from the relevant authorities to assemble or manufacture vehicles locally and there are various taxes to be paid. With such approval, the locally assembled vehicle can be registered with the Department of Motor Traffic.
“The problem, however, arises when a person having the expertise assembles a roadworthy vehicle without Motor Traffic Department approval,” he said. He called on the authorities to introduce a reasonable excise structure to overcome such problems and allow such vehicles to come to the market. “We believe that there is a market for these vehicles because they are free from the exorbitant duty rates levied on certain vehicles today.”
Meanwhile Board of Investments (BOI) Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said the BOI was planning to invite renowned Motor Companies to set up vehicle manufacturing plants across the country. “We believe that the country would benefit tremendously through this. This is something that should have been done ages ago. We also hope that these companies would export their vehicles to countries like India from Sri Lanka,” he told the Sunday Times.