"In the previous budget, microbus was out of supplementary duty net," Abdul Haque, president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers & Dealers Association (Barvida), told a press conference in Dhaka.

Microbus is not a luxurious vehicle, rather it is a vehicle used for common purposes, said Haque, adding that the proposed duty structure will reduce microbus import, affecting the common people and small businesses, who use it mainly for transport.

In the proposed budget, the government has imposed between 20 and 350 percent supplementary duty on various sizes of the Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV), he added.

This duty structure will increase the duties on microbus by between Tk 4 lakh and Tk 9 lakh, said the leaders of the association.

The association leaders also demanded import of used vehicles up to six years old instead of existing four years.

"If the government extends the time limit to six years, it will help reduce prices," said Abdul Hamid Sharif, secretary general of the association.

The Barvida leaders also said Australia allows import of 14-year-old vehicles, while England allows 12 years, Saudi Arabia 20 years, Thailand 18 years and Ireland 22 years.

Around 80 percent of reconditioned vehicles are imported in Bangladesh from Japan.

Former president of the association Helal Uddin Choudhury, its First Vice President Shah Selim Tipu, and executive members Anwar Hossain and Aslam Serniabad, among others, were present at the press meet.