Bike registration fee halved
The government yesterday slashed motorcycle registration fees by half, a demand long being made by two-wheeler makers.
From now on, motorcycles of engine capacities of up to 100cc will cost Tk 2,000 to be registered, down 52 per cent from Tk 4,200.
For those over 100cc, the fee cut has been 46 per cent to Tk 3,000 from Tk 5,600, said Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
This is expected to boost motorcycle sales which has been downed in recent times for the first time in three years since the government slashed supplementary duty on component import by 25 percentage points to 20 per cent to encourage domestic production.
Sales dropped 11 per cent year-on-year to 4.7 lakh units in 2020 from nearly 5.30 lakh units, showed data from the Bangladesh Motorcycle Assemblers and Manufacturers Association.
"Both the government and users will be benefited…Now everybody will register their motorcycles in rural areas," said Hafizur Rahman Khan, chairman of Runner Group, a pioneer of this sector in Bangladesh.
The BRTA's proposal was a reduction of 4.9 per cent for those under the first category which bear an average price tag of Tk 90,000 and of 8.4 per cent for the others available for around Tk 2 lakh.
In Bangladesh, the motorcycle registration fee is a combination of charges for registering and inspecting the vehicle alongside a road tax with a two-year validity.
A public-private joint economic dialogue between Bangladesh and Japan in August last year decided to bring down the registration cost. The Prime Minister's Office then directed the BRTA to make recommendations.
Khan said the government would gain more revenue as the cost reduction would get an increasing number of people in rural areas more inclined towards registering their two-wheelers.
"Next year the number of motorcycles registered with the BRTA will increase. We are satisfied…(and the) impact will fall on the industry," he said.
Regarding road accidents involving motorcycles, industry people say the two-wheelers were not solely to blame. Rather, there were other factors such as a lack of awareness about driving vehicles and safety.
Abdul Matlub Ahmad, chairman of Nitol-Niloy Group which makes the Hero brand of motorcycle, said customers, the government and industry would benefit.
The good news is that the middle class who use motorcycles for easy movement will be benefited, he said.
Shah Muhammad Ashequr Rahman, head of finance and commercial, Bangladesh Honda Private, said due to the effective initiatives of the government in reducing prices of motorcycles, the vehicle has turned into a necessity rather than an item of luxury.
"Reducing the registration fees is one of the advance developments to make the motorcycle into a necessity item for the daily mobility which will contribute to run the wheels of the economy," he said.
"We expect the other costs related to motorcycle registrations fees like digital registration certificate, retro-reflective number plate with RFID tag, inspection fees, 15 percent supplementary duty, road tax (for 10 years) and VAT will be reviewed gradually," he added.
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