PESHAWAR: Instead of providing facilities to importers and exporters, the Peshawar Dry Port has been turned to a parking lot of imported vehicles, hampering routine custom clearance process. More over, hundreds of cars involving a legal battle have been stationed there for a year.
“Even small trucks cannot move backward or make a turn because the port’s parking space has been occupied by the cars, which have been stationed there for a year,” said a customs clearance agent, requesting anonymity.
According to businessmen, the legal wrangling between the Customs Collectorate and a group of importers has badly affected the dry port’s operations as it has run out of space to accommodate goods in trade due to the pre-occupation of the parking space.
Some more than 450 imported cars have been stationed at the parking facility of the dry port after the local customs authorities rejected them to qualify under the previous Pakistan People’s Party-led federal government’s amnesty scheme, offering tax concessions for the illegally imported vehicles.
Launched under a statutory regulatory order issued on March 15, 2013, the scheme was meant to raise the additional revenue for the federal government in a compromise to regularize the non-duty paid vehicles plying illegally on the roads.
The scheme turned out to be a hit as more than 61,000 vehicles were registered across the country, bringing over Rs15 billion revenue for the Federal Board of Revenue.
However, in Peshawar the scheme resulted into complications after some importers tried to take an extra benefit from the government’s SRO and imported vehicles to get them cleared under the amnesty scheme.
“The scheme was meant for the non-duty paid vehicles already present in the country, whereas Peshawar dealers imported vehicles to interpret the scheme to their advantage,” said an official.
Not only that they imported vehicles to take advantage of the scheme that was irregular, the imported vehicles did not qualify the country’s policy vis-à-vis the import of used vehicles.
“As per the policy, three-year old used/refurbished vehicles can be imported, whereas many among those imported by Peshawar’s dealers are more than three years’ old,” said a customs clearance agent, who complained that the pre-occupation of the parking facility had badly affected his business.
According to an official, after the Customs Collectorate refused to clear the vehicles under the amnesty, the importers sought legal remedy from the Federal Ombudsman’s Office.
