BARVIDA for allowing \\\'8-year old\\\' reconditioned bus for public transportation

Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) has demanded of the government to allow import of minimum 'eight-year old' reconditioned bus for public transportation, as it will significantly facilitate to ease the existing severe traffic jam in Dhaka city.
Currently, country's import policy does not permit import of bus or car, older than five years, though Japan, source of our about 98 per cent reconditioned cars, usually does not auction bus before it becomes 5-6 years older, its top official said.
"As a result, we cannot import reconditioned bus and contribute to the public transportation despite serious dearth of quality and comfortable transport buses in Dhaka city," Md. Habib Ullah Dawn, president of BARVIDA, told the FE in an interview recently.
Japan put its 30-40-seat buses in auction after cancellation of their registrations that are valid for 5-6 years, said Mr Dawn, also chairman and managing director of A.M. Group. "About 98 per cent of our total imported reconditioned cars come from Japan."
"If the government allows us to import transport buses that are minimum eight-year older, we can import quality reconditioned public bus, having 30-40 seats, from Japan, and thus replace the existing low-fitness and less quality services in the city," he said.
Availability of quality public buses will attract the passengers even the private car owners to avail the public buses, thus reduce the number of private cars in the city roads and ease the traffic jam, the BARVIDA chief elaborated.
Coupled with some other reasons, big number of private cars and low quality, inadequate public buses together are mainly causing the severe traffic congestion in Dhaka city.
"Due to not having quality and available transport buses, the people especially the office goers remain in serious trouble to get into buses and reach the office timely and comfortably," Mr Dawn, also sponsor director of the Exim Bank Ltd, said.
"If they (especially private car owners) get quality and adequate buses, they will automatically be reluctant to drive private cars in the city, helping reduction of the city's traffic congestion."
Comparing prices of new and old such bus, he said that a new bus in Japan is worth about $ 0.3-0.35 million while the eight-year old same bus could be bought at only $ 50,000-60,000 from auction.
Mr Dawn also requested the government to withdraw existing 37 per cent import duty on bus for the sake of making quality transport bus available in the city.
Regarding the hybrid car, the BARVIDA president said that at present only 7-8 new car agents/dealers are allowed to import it, which is clear discrimination with the reconditioned car businesses, who has 85 per cent share in the country's private car market.
Hybrid car is fuel-economic and environment-friendly; it run 20 kilometer per liter; popularity of this car is increasing day by day in the world, he said.
Citing the Finance Minister's assurance, made at the 20th anniversary of BARVIDA recently, to allow the reconditioned car businesses to import hybrid car, Mr Dawn hoped that the assurance will be executed as soon as possible.
He also sought a long-term duty policy (which is now one year) for the cars like the three-year long import policy in order to keep the local car market stable, and facilitate a healthy business environment.
"Due to the changes of duty policy each year, both the sellers and the buyers are to confront a wavering circumstance especially ahead of the national budget."
Mr Dawn further demanded of the government withdraw the newly imposed supplementary duty (SD) on import of micro buses having 12-15 seats, making those affordable to the buyers as the micro bus is normally used as necessity items for traveling of employees at different factories.
The president also said that car sale was substantially reduced in the last two years due to excessive duty and squeezed auto loan at banks as the debt-equity ratio was reversed from 70:30 to 30:70 in February, 2012.
"We, the new committee of BARVIDA, sat with the Bangladesh Bank and finally became able to manage the authorities to make the ratio 50:50 in May last," the president said, adding that ceiling of car loan was also set at Tk 4 million, which was earlier only Tk 2 million.
"Thanks to the changes, the sector again saw increased volume of car sale in the last five-six months."
Citing that the sector is the second highest tax payer in the country, Mr Dawn said that the reconditioned cars, including pick-up, microbus, private car and jeep, are basically behind running the whole economy towards forward.
He also thanked the government especially the revenue board officials for decreasing duty on the 1501cc-1750 cc cars, having high demand in the local market, in the last budget. The initiative raised the import and sale of this segment of cars noticeably.
Under his leadership, the reconditioned car sector was tremendously exposed to the people and the association reached to a new height, Mr Dawn said, and expected that the next committee, to be elected after expiry of the incumbent term in February, 2015, will continue the ongoing progressive activities and take the body to a new level. Mr Dawn is serving the BARVIDA as its president for two terms.
He is also joint secretary general of the Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DBCCI) and life member of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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