Some 300 vehicles stuck at harbour as Customs demand taxes triple vehicle value: Importers

Colombo, January 14 (Daily Mirror) - Some 300 brand new vehicles have been stranded at the Hambantota Port for more than six months, with individual importers complaining that Sri Lanka Customs is demanding taxes amounting to nearly three times the original value of the vehicles to secure their release.

Vehicle owners say they had complied with all prevailing import regulations at the time of purchase, but Customs has since imposed additional levies, including a surcharge of nearly 50 per cent of the applicable customs duty. In several cases, importers claim the total tax liability has exceeded Rs. 10 million per vehicle.

The prolonged delay has triggered growing frustration and financial strain among the affected owners, who argue that the revised tax demands are unjustified and have left their vehicles stuck at the port despite months of repeated appeals to the authorities.

These vehicles were imported using the Cross Border Letter of Credit (LC) system, which many people use to bring vehicles for their personal use. Now the owners say their vehicles are trapped in legal and administrative problems, with no clear date for release.

At a press conference held yesterday, the affected importers asked President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to step in. They said they are suffering badly both financially and emotionally because their vehicles are still being held.

One importer said, “We did everything legally. We paid LC charges, Customs duty, port charges, demurrage and even gave guarantees. But our vehicles are still inside the port and nobody explains why.”

Many owners said they used all their life savings to buy one vehicle for their family. Now they are trapped because rules were changed after their vehicles were already shipped to Sri Lanka.

Another importer said, “Our vehicles have been at Hambantota for more than six months. After the recent cyclone, we don’t even know if our vehicles are still there. Customs does not tell us anything.”

The owners also say Customs is asking them to pay an extra fine of almost 50 percent of the Customs duty to release the vehicles. In some cases, total taxes are over Rs. 10 million for one vehicle about three times more than the vehicle’s original price.

Another importer said, “We are not car dealers or businessmen. We are ordinary people who used our savings or took loans. Now we are being punished for delays and rule changes that are not our fault.”

Families are now struggling to pay loans, their credit records are getting damaged, and they are under heavy stress while their new vehicles sit unused at the port.

Sri Lanka Customs spokesperson Chandana Punchihewa told Daily Mirror that the vehicles are part of an ongoing court case related to Cross Border LC imports.

He said a gazette has been issued stopping the release of these vehicles until the case is over.

However, he said owners have two choices. They can take their vehicles home after paying the normal taxes but cannot register them with the Department of Motor Traffic until the court case ends. Or they can pay extra taxes and penalties to register the vehicles now for breaking Cross Border LC rules.

“We cannot do anything until the court case is finished,” he said.

For the vehicle owners, this is not a good answer.

One of them asked, “Where is the justice? Our vehicles are paid for and legally imported. But now we must either lose more money or wait for an unknown period.”

Hambantota Port has now become the centre of a major controversy, with hundreds of families stuck between court cases, Customs decisions and serious financial problems.