The President of the Ceylon Vehicle Importers Affiliation, Mr Prasad Handle, claims that because of the catastrophe state of affairs that arose after Cyclone Ditwah, the financial circumstances of many individuals have deteriorated and in consequence, they’re now unable to buy the autos that they had already ordered.
He mentioned that for each automobile imported into Sri Lanka, a penalty of three per cent (3%) is charged if it’s not cleared inside three months of importation, and that due to the difficulties they’re going through on account of the catastrophe, many individuals have been unable to buy the autos that they had ordered inside this stipulated interval.
Due to this fact, he said that they’ve requested the Authorities to not impose this three per cent (3%) penalty.
He additionally identified that automobile leasing rates of interest have now elevated to round fourteen to fifteen per cent (14%–15%).
As well as, he mentioned that they’ve requested the Authorities to cut back the taxes imposed on autos with engine capacities under 1,000 cc, such because the Wagon R, Alto, Yaris and Hustler, that are generally utilized by most of the people.
He additional famous that taxes of round Rs. 4 million are charged on a Wagon R, Rs. 3.5–3.6 million on an Alto, and roughly Rs. 4.4–4.5 million on a Yaris, including that these quantities are equal to nearly double the costs at which autos are bought from auctions in Japan.
