Kathmandu, June 6

The Problematic Cooperatives Wealth Management Committee has tried to dispel concerns raised by the victims of Oriental Cooperative and some other housing projects owned by realtor Sudheer Basnet after his release. “The process of settling the cases has already begun and it could take around a year to settle all 7,500 claims,” said Rewati Raman Pokharel, spokesperson for committee.

Following Basnet’s release after serving his two-year sentence, victims of the cooperative and housing projects owned by him had urged the Problematic Cooperatives Wealth Management Committee to keep an eye on Basnet and expedite the settlement of the cases filed by the victims.

Basnet was lodged at Dillibazar Jail after the Kathmandu and Bhaktapur District Courts issued a verdict of two years of imprisonment and Rs 59.2 million in penalties for the fraud cases filed against him.

As per Pokharel, Basnet’s release will not affect settlement of cases as physical property, bank account and travel documents of Basnet and his allies are in possession of committee.

The committee, led by Chairman of Special Court Gauri Bahadur Karki, had sought claims in between April 16 and May 20 from Biratnagar, Birgunj, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Nepalgunj, Surkhet and Dhangadhi.

A total of 7,500 people who claim to have fallen victim to Basnet’s schemes had submitted their application at the committee within the given deadline. Pokharel informed that Basnet had been summoned by the committee to record his testimony many times during his imprisonment and that Basnet and his allies could be summoned any time if the committee feels the need for further investigation.

The committee will settle the claims on a case by case basis prioritising depositors; outstanding dues to the government, banks; those that had made advance payments for apartments and those who provided loans for the housing projects; and owners who had rented their property to Oriental’s offices. The victims will be gradually rebated after liquidation of Oriental’s property.

The committee has been seeking help of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police to identify the physical properties and hidden properties of Basnet and the board of directors of Oriental Cooperative. It is reported that Oriental Cooperative and apartment projects initiated by Oriental Builders and Developers, Kohinoor Hill Housing, Aayusha Builders initiated by Chairman of Oriental Cooperative and realty trader Basnet misused an eye-popping Rs 4.20 billion in deposits of the cooperative and Rs 1.36 billion parked by customers for housing projects.

Majority of the commercial banks and financial institutions, including government-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank and Employees Provident Fund, had financed Oriental’s housing projects.

“The committee will calculate the liability by verifying the submitted claims while settling the cases,” said Pokharel. “While verifying the claims, documents sought by the committee along with the claims are a must. The proof of savings amount in the cooperative; share certificates; proof of loan issued to the construction company and other projects; details of fixed property as collateral and citizenship certificate will be properly verified before settling the claims.”

Dealers say no queries for high-end automobiles after the budget

Kathmandu, June 6

Owing to the hike in excise duty by up to 40 percentage points through the 2018-19 fiscal budget, automobile dealers have said that sales of high-end vehicles (both two-wheelers and four-wheelers) have come to a screeching halt since the last one week.

They said that not only have sales dipped but customers are not even inquiring about luxurious vehicles following the excise duty hike, which has had made this segment of vehicles dearer in the domestic market.

The government, through the new fiscal policy, had raised the excise duty on two-wheelers of above 150cc engine capacity and four-wheelers of above 1,000cc by up to 40 percentage points.

Along with the rise in the excise duty, auto dealers had consequently increased the price of high-end vehicles of different brands.

“Even if we take a rough estimation, the price of a few high-end vehicles have become dearer by up to Rs 10 million after the latest tax revision. This has led to a complete halt in the sales of luxurious vehicles,” said Shambu Prasad Dahal, president of NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal (NAAN).

The excise duty hike has primarily affected the sales of vehicles of automobile brands like Ducati, Benelli, Harley-Davidson, Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes, UM and KTM, which have been selling high-end vehicles in the country, according to NAAN.

The market share of high-end vehicles in the domestic market is estimated to stand at around 10 per cent.

Dealers claim that the government raised the excise duty without enough preparation. If the move was intended to raise revenue, Dahal questioned the pragmatism of that motive if the auto dealers stopped importing high-end vehicles following the lean demand.

“As the decision has already been implemented, the government and the private sector should sit together to seek a solution to this issue,” stated Dahal.

However, automobile dealers have welcomed the government’s decision not to increase excise duty on mid- and low-range vehicles.

Though this significant rise in excise duty will not affect the overall automobile business, it will have an adverse impact on the automobile companies that have been importing a few high-end vehicles and selling them in the domestic market.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government, through the federal budget for next fiscal, has raised the excise duty on two-wheelers of above 150cc to 250cc by 10 percentage points to 70 per cent, and for two-wheelers of above 250cc by 20 percentage points to 80 per cent.

Similarly, excise duty on four-wheelers of above 1,000cc to 1,500cc has been increased by five percentage points to 65 per cent, and those above 1,500cc to 2,000cc by 10 percentage points to 70 per cent. Likewise, for vehicles of above 2,000cc to 2,500cc the excise duty has been hiked by 20 percentage points to 80 per cent, above 2,500cc to 3,000cc by 30 percentage points to 90 per cent and those above 3,000cc by 40 percentage points to 100 per cent.

Prior to this, the government had been levying 60 per cent excise duty on all types of vehicles except electric vehicles.

KATHMANDU: Laxmi Bank has inaugurated its new branch in sub-metropolitan city in Kalaiya, Bara district.

This new branch will offer full range of retail banking services customised to meet the needs of individuals and small businesses, as per a media release.

With this, Laxmi Bank’s network now includes 43 districts, 85 branches, three hospital service counters, 103 ATMs, more than 2,500 remittance counters, 51 branchless banking points and 400-plus mobile banking agents spread across the country.