Used vehicle dealers seek phased approach to banning

May 2, 2018 in Business, Transport by Editor

May 2, 2018—Dealers of used vehicles have asked the government to implement a proposed law to severely restrict  imports of older cars in phases so that they can adjust their operations to prevent losses and also limit the shocks of job redundancies.

Currently, the majority of passenger vehicles imported to Uganda were manufactured 10 years ago, but authorities want to reduce this by half.

“We are not against the government proposal of banning the importation of second hand cars, but more time should be given to the dealers since some have made orders for the vehicles from Japan and other countries. If the government implements the proposal, car dealers will be affected,” Marvin Ayebale, the Secretary General of the Association of Motor Dealers in Uganda said recently during a meeting he called for members.

The proposal to be implemented next financial year is also expected to help reduce on the adverse environmental effects cause by aged and inefficient vehicles.

The government under the new Traffic and Road Safety Act 1998 (Amendment) Bill, 2018 tabled  before parliament  proposes that a person who imports a motor vehicle which is five years old or more from the date of manufacture shall pay an environmental levy on that vehicle. The environmental levy shall be collected by the Uganda Revenue Authority before clearance of the vehicle.

However under the same proposals some vehicles of special usage are exempted from the ban and these are breakdown  trucks, cranes, some lorries, fire fighting vehicles, concrete mixers, road-sweepers and other utility vehicles. In addition motor vehicles which are in transit before the commencement of this Act and which arrive in Uganda by September 30, 2018 will also be exempted from the ban.