Earlier this week, The Ministry of Commerce had tabled a case that requested benefits for the import of vintage cars. The cabinet reviewed the summary titled: “One-Time Relaxation in Prohibition of Import of Vintage Cars or Otherwise in Light of Decision of the Sindh High Court” submitted by the Commerce Division and rejected the one-time relaxation for the import of vintage cars.
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Importers are facing problems regarding the import of vintage cars
The Federal Board of Revenue (Revenue Division) issued SRO 833(I)/2018 on 3rd July 2018, under which a cumulative duty of $5,000 per unit was levied on the import of vintage cars/ jeeps (PCT 8703) that were over 50 years old. However, the SRO remained irrelevant due to the ban in the Import Policy Order. Meanwhile, some of the cars that were imported under SRO 833(I)/2018 had arrived in the country and the importers of these cars are approaching different courts to request the release of their cars. They said that they had imported the cars based on the SRO and were clueless of any ban in the import policy.
On Friday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered the federal government to issue one-time relaxation for the release of imported vintage cars, sitting at the port for quite some time. The direction came from a larger bench of SHC, where two judges gave the verdict in favor of the release of these cars whereas one opposed. The Sindh High Court ordered the federal government to consider the case for one-time relaxation/permit of import under clause 21 of the Import Policy Order, 2020 in respect of already imported vintage cars falling under SRO 833(I)/2018.
Car prices are rising, again
Recently, the government withdrew taxes to give relaxation in car prices to the general public, but, the car manufacturers have once again increased the prices of vehicles, disregarding the understanding reached with the government about car prices. Auto industry expert Sabir Shaikh said that automobile companies in Pakistan had been dominating the market for the last 30 years and they don’t listen to the government.
Source: Pro Pakistani
