Scheme for duty free car import by disabled persons in Pakistan

Pakistan, under Import Policy Order 2022, has granted a scheme of duty free import of cars for disabled persons into the country.

According to the order, disabled persons, subject to import authorization by the commerce Division to be issued on the specific recommendation of respective federal or provincial Health Departments, shall be allowed customs duty free import of a car of engine capacity not exceeding I350cc.

Three-wheeler motorcycle in new condition shall also be allowed under the above scheme. The car and three-wheeler motorcycle so imported shall have to be customized to overcome the physical disability and shall be for personal use only.

In order to comply with the Import Policy Order, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued procedure for duty free import of vehicles.

The FBR said that in order to facilitate disabled persons to avail the facility and to provide them level of comfort for appearance before the Board at their respective provinces, it has been decided forthwith to form Committee at the provincial levels to be chaired by the secretary of the concerned provincial health department, to hold meetings at hospitals under their administrative control to physically examine disabled persons for availing the facility provided they fulfill criteria/terms and conditions of the scheme.

The composition of the committee is as under:

i. Two orthopedic surgeons of the provincial government hospitals to be nominated by provincial health secretary of the respective province.

ii. Regional Tax Officer, a BS-19 officer of the respective provincial headquarter office.

iii. Representative of the provincial social welfare department to be nominated by the respective secretaries.

The respective committee will furnish their recommendations to ministry of commerce, Islamabad for issuance of necessary import authorizations. Customs authorities will allow release of a car in favor of the applicant on the basis of authorization as issued by the ministry of commerce.

The disabled persons may approach the provincial health department for further information, according to a notification issued by the ministry of commerce.

The ministry of commerce further noted that a Pakistani national suffering from physical disability (excluding mentally retarded / handicapped and old age disability) may apply under the Disabled Persons Scheme for import, once in five years, a new car not exceeding an engine capacity of 1350 CC for personal use without payment of customs duties.

The ministry explained the procedure as:

i. Valid driving license

ii. National Tax Number (NTN) Certificate and annual income tax returns.

iii. Documents / Medical certificates/X-rays in support of declared disability.

iv. Special computerized national identity cards for disabled persons/disability certificate by National Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons (NCRDP) or by Provincial Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons (PCRDP) of the ministry of social welfare.

v. The disabled person may apply on prescribed application form to the Secretary Provincial Health Department along with certified copies of the documents.

vi. The applicant shall be examined and interviewed by the provincial committee chaired by secretary of the concerned provincial health department. The committee shall normally meet when a sufficient number of applications are received for disabled persons. The applicants belonging to Islamabad territory and FATA may appear before the Punjab Provincial Committee and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa provincial committee respectively.

vii. The committee shall approve, reject or defer the application as deemed fit by it.

viii. The decision of the committee shall be final.

ix. Ministry of commerce shall issue import authorization on recommendation of committee. The authorization shall be valid for a period of one year for import from date of issuance. Any alteration, amendment, over-writing etc. unless done by the ministry of commerce shall invalidate the authorization.

x. The authorized disabled persons shall furnish copies of import documents and registration documents, within three months of imports.