Customs sources said around 10 percent of the annual import of about 12,000 cars are imported in fraudulent ways to evade taxes of around Tk 25 crore.

In the last couple of months, Chittagong Customs House seized three consignments of cars imported evading taxes of around Tk 80 lakh. On July 10, it seized 60 buses imported this way.

Some of the importers are importing old cars beyond the government permissible limit by tampering with engine and chassis numbers, causing huge revenue losses to the government. These dishonest importers are so skilled in the malpractice that customs officials most of the time fail to detect it, a high official of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said.

Market sources attributed the mischief mainly to 'stringent and faulty' import policy

"The government has restricted import of reconditioned cars only to four-year-old ones, which is really impractical in the current car market situation. The stringent import policy inspires a section of importers to resort to illegal means," said Abdul Mannan Khoshru, president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BRVIDA).

He urged the government to relax the time limit from four years to six years in case of reconditioned cars.

NBR Chairman Abdul Karim admitted the foul play in vehicle import and said he recently asked both the Chittagong customs commissioner and Benapole customs commissioner to step up vigilance against such menace. "We will not allow such violation of import policy and counterfeiting to evade taxes."

About 80 per cent of the country's annual demand for reconditioned cars and pick-ups -- around 8,000-- are imported from Japan by the BARVIDA members, and 3,000 new vehicles are imported from India by Benapole- based importers.

New car importers meet the demand for about 1,500 cars annually.