LAHORE, Oct 26: In a bid to resolve the problem of late car delivery and the premium, Indus Motors has begun refunding since September last to the investors who had multiple bookings against one NIC or a single national tax number (NTN).

As a result, the industry sources told Dawn on Monday at the inauguration of the new Honda motorcycle plant, "the problem of late delivery and premium on cars may be reversed for the first time in two years provided other auto assemblers also begin refunding the multiple bookings on the same NIC or NTN."

The sources quoted Federal Minister for Industries and production Jehangir Tareen as appreciating the company's new policy and hoping that it would ensure timely delivery of cars to consumers. The amount of multiple bookings against one NIC or NTN is said to be more than Rs1 billion.

The federal government had restricted auto assemblers in the budget for 2004-05 to sell their products only to the NTN holders. Long before the imposition of the NTN condition, the sources said, Indus Motors had introduced the system of compulsory registration of all vehicles in the name of those who had booked them before they could leave the showroom. This practice had also discouraged investors.

The decision of the company to sell one car against an NIC or NTN would make it difficult for investors to charge premium on new cars.

Premium on Toyota cars have dropped to Rs60,000 from Rs150,000 on Corolla Xli, to Rs100,000 from Rs150,000 on 2.0D and to Rs100,000 from almost Rs200,000 on 2.0D Special Saloon. The premiums, the sources said, would decline further with an improvement in the availability of new cars due to compulsory refunds of multiple bookings.