107 luxury cars to be auctioned again

The Chittagong Customs House has sought the National Board of Revenue’s permission to put 107 luxury cars under the hammer again and hand over five others to top bidders after evaluating November’s auction.

The customs house auctioned 112 vehicles for the fifth time on November 3 and 4. Various individuals and organisations placed 551 bids for 110 cars.

“We have sought NBR’s permission to auction them again as most of the proposed bids were not received,” said Mohammad Al Amin, Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Customs House.

He said five of them could be handed over to the bidders.

“It is up to the NBR to decide when the cars will be put up for auction again, and whether the five cars will be handed over to the bidders,” he added.

These luxurious vehicles were brought into the country almost a decade ago under the Carnet de Passage facility that allows travellers/tourists to move through countries driving their cars. Such vehicles can enter the travelling country on temporary importation facilities without paying duty and taxes.

Customs House sources said the vehicles had been brought to the country by British tourists of Bangladeshi descent through Chattogram port a decade ago but were seized due to the misuse of the duty-free facility. The authorities concerned imposed conditions for the redemption of the vehicles with bank guarantees. Since they had not been redeemed for a long time, the customs authorities auctioned them following rules. 

As no good bidders were found in multiple auctions, the customs organised another auction through a large-scale campaign. The reserve value of the 112 vehicles auctioned was Tk 180 core, but the bid was less than half of that price.

Al-Amin said a committee would approve the sale after reviewing the prices at the auction.

“The auction approval committee referred the matter to the NBR as there is a massive difference between the tender price and the proposed price,” he added.

The auctioned cars include Land Rover, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Jaguar, and Mitsubishi. They are lying in containers and open condition in Chittagong port and car sheds and many are missing parts.

Permissions of several government agencies will be required before the vehicles can be put on road.