KARACHI, Nov 23: The import of used cars and commercial vehicles declined substantially during the first four months (July-Oct) of the current fiscal.

In all 6,241 vehicles of different engine power and in CBU (completely built unit) condition were imported as against 9,789 imported in the corresponding period last year.

The import of cars registered a sharp decline to 5,156 units compared to 7,043 units imported in the same period last year, the official figures revealed.

The total value of vehicles (cars and commercial vehicles) imported during the period under review stood at Rs3.108 billion as against Rs4.089 billion in the same period last year. The customs duty fetched from the import of these vehicles stood at Rs2.131 billion as against Rs2.221 billion in the corresponding period last year.

The total value of cars imported during the period under review stood at Rs2.162 billion and fetched around Rs1.671 billion in duty. Under the Personal Baggage scheme 4,327 cars were imported in addition to 694 units under other schemes, which also included new vehicles - 132 under Transfer of Residence (T/R) and only three units under Gift scheme.

In the same period last year cars having value of Rs2.752 billion were imported and Rs1.709 were paid towards customs duty. Last year, 2,803 cars were imported under T/R scheme but this year during July-Oct only 132 cars had been imported under this scheme.