The Chattogram Customs House has initiated the sale of 182 vehicles as scrap, which were brought in through Chattogram Port in a period between 2001 and 2012.

They were up for sale as the lifespan of the vehicles had ended.

The auction section's data reveals that despite multiple attempts, the vehicles remained unsold.

The first phase of the auction will include 75 vehicles, the second phase 53 vehicles and the rest will be bid out in the third phase.

The vehicles include mini tracks, jeep sports cars, private cars of several brands, including Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Tata and Honda.

The vehicles manufactured 15 to 26 years ago have engines of 1,200cc to 3,398cc, as per the documents.

The vehicles have lost their validity as they were left in the port yard for a long time, Saidul Haque, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Custom House, told The Daily Star.

The auction committee took the decision of auctioning off the vehicles as scrap based on the recommendation of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

The customs official said the Chattogram port has issued several letters to the customs to remove these vehicles, which were disrupting normal operations of the port.

Following the demands of the port, the customs started the process of selling these cars as scrap on the recommendation of the committee formed by several private and government organisations, including customs, port, shipping agents, BRTA and trade bodies.

The customs law states that the importers have to take delivery of goods within 30 days of those reaching the port; defaulting on the timeline results in the customs authority starting the procedures to auction the goods.

Asked why the deliveries were not taken, customs officials and importers cited a number of reasons, including a fall in the prices of goods in the local market, failure to submit original documents in support of the shipment, failure to get clearance permit reports and importers' refusal to pay fines for anomalies.