Kathmandu. KATHMANDU — A government team has been deployed in the field to investigate the 774 electric vehicles (EVs) seized by the Armed Police Force (APF) on suspicion of importing electric vehicles (EVs) before the budget announcement. The Ministry of Finance had formed a high-level probe committee under the leadership of Under Secretary Bhupal Raj Shakya on Thursday.
Director General of the Department of Customs, Shyam Prasad Bhandari, said that the representatives of the committee had left for the incident site via Pokhara and Jomsom. The Armed Police Force (APF) had impounded the vehicles by conducting security checks at various road sections from Kaski to Mustang on Wednesday night. According to APF central spokesperson Bishnu Prasad Bhatta, most of the 774 vehicles were of BYD brand. According to him, many of the vehicles were found being being transported to different districts without number plates.
Police have impounded the vehicles for further investigation on the suspicion that the import might have been increased based on information about the change in tax rate through the budget. The police said that legal action would be taken against the concerned person and agency if the investigation proves any irregularities in the customs process, tax assessment and import activities before the budget. Cimex Inc., the authorized distributor of the BYD brand in Nepal, has clarified that all the vehicles seized do not belong to BYD. The company said in a statement on Thursday that only 649 of the seized vehicles were of the BYD brand.
Cimex has said that the vehicles were imported in full compliance with the prevailing laws, customs act and related regulations. “The company has not taken any special privileges or unauthorized benefits at any stage and is committed to fully cooperate with the investigation process,” the statement said.
The case has become a matter of great concern as the government investigative team has started studying whether information related to tax rate changes was leaked or not. It is expected that the exact details about the import process, tax management and possible irregularities would be made public only after the investigation report.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्
