KARACHI (September 07 2005): The gradual liberalisation of policy for the import of old and used vehicles under various schemes by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has resulted in decline of premium on locally manufactured vehicles by Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.
A report compiled by the Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement) and issued this week said that due to changes in the import policy and reduction of customs duty in the budget 2005-06, pressure on purchase of locally manufactured vehicles has also reduced and accordingly premium on the vehicles have started decreasing.
The report quoted information collected from the local market, which revealed that the premium on Suzuki Mehran (CNG) has reduced to Rs 50,000 compared to the premium of Rs 65,000 prevailing before the budget.
The premium amount for different cars mentioned in the report include Suzuki Cultus (petrol) Rs 60,000 (pre budget Rs 80,000); Suzuki Cultus (CNG) Rs 80,000 (pre budget Rs 95,000), Suzuki Alto (Petrol) Rs 60,000 (pre budget Rs 80,000), Suzuki Alto (CNG) Rs 75,000 (pre budget Rs 90,000); Toyota Corolla XLI (1300 cc) Rs 170,000 (pre budget Rs 190,000); Hyundai Santro Rs 80,000 (pre budget Rs 90,000); Daihatsu Cuore (petrol) Manual Rs 65,000 (pre budget Rs 80,000); Daihatsu Cuore (CNG) Rs 80,000 (pre budget Rs 100,000); and Suzuki Baleno Rs 50,000 (pre budget Rs 80,000).
The report submitted that in the current federal budget the government has further streamlined the policy for the import of vehicles by allowing three years old and used vehicles under Gift and Personal Baggage schemes.
It also abolished the condition of one-year registration in the name of importers in Transfer of Residence (TR) scheme and included brothers and sisters in the definition of 'family'. The rates of Customs duty have also been reduced by fixing maximum rate at 75 percent.
As a result of these measures as many as 2563 vehicles have been imported during the last two months only. The report anticipated that in future import of vehicles would increase manifold.
According to the report, 9144 vehicles were imported during 2004-05 compared to 2865 vehicles imported in the previous year under concessionary import schemes for overseas Pakistanis. The Collectorate fetched Rs 6694.56 million as duty and taxes on the import of vehicles under these schemes during 2004-05 compared to Rs 2351.33 million collected in the previous year.
The report listed measures taken to achieve the objectives of the government's policy of liberal import of old and used vehicles. The Collectorate has streamlined the import procedures by abolishing the car cell and discontinued the practice of issuing an import permit.
Under the revised system, the importer or his authorised clearing agent may file the import documents along with Goods Declaration (GD) after arrival of vehicle or get the documents checked before the arrival of the vehicle to save time.
These measures will not only help in expeditious clearance of vehicles but also reduce the level of corruption in clearance of vehicles, as there will be fewer interactions between the importers and Customs officials, the report concluded.