A total of 119 luxury vehicles have made their way into Sri Lanka under the pretext of electric vehicle imports, it is learnt.
It is further learnt that permits initially issued for the country’s migrant workers, sanctioned by the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment, have been systematically exploited, leading to massive financial losses for the Government.
These imported vehicles include 22 BMWs, 13 Mercedes Benzes, five Porsches, six Ford Mustangs, six Audis, four Teslas, 22 Volkswagens, eight Peugeots, 18 MGs, 10 Nissans, one Hyundai, three Netas, and one Tata.
It has also been revealed that a staggering 75 out of the 119 luxury vehicles have been imported by one company.
When contacted, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara told The Sunday Morning that the ministry had issued the permits in the proper manner and that there had been no corruption involved from the ministry’s side.
He further noted that if there had been any corruption involved, it had to be investigated by the Customs.
“We initiated the programme to encourage those who sent dollars to Sri Lanka and under the programme we have secured $ 38 million. These allegations of misusing vehicle permits are not relevant to us. They have to be separately investigated,” he added.
According to Sri Lanka Customs statistics, the total Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value of these imported vehicles stands at Rs. 1,992.2 million, with the total amount of taxes garnered through the migrant worker permits amounting to Rs. 1,060 million.
Customs’ calculations indicate that Sri Lanka could have collected Rs. 1,413.8 million in taxes if these vehicles had not exploited the permits meant for the country’s hardworking migrant labour force.
However, the country has now incurred a loss of Rs. 353.72 million in taxes.
With the aim of boosting the country’s foreign currency reserves and curbing black market activities, the Government had devised a strategy to incentivise migrant workers to remit their funds through legitimate channels.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara secured Cabinet approval in October 2022 to introduce this scheme.
Under this scheme, expatriates who have transferred more than $ 3,000 are granted the privilege to import a solar-powered electric motorcycle valued at $ 25,000 or less.
Those who have remitted more than $ 20,000 have the opportunity to import an electric car, with its price capped at half of the amount sent to Sri Lanka, up to a maximum of $ 65,000.
This initiative is slated to remain in effect from 1 May 2022 to 31 December 2023.
The primary objective of this scheme is to encourage remittances through legal channels.