The government has approved the first Electric Vehicle (EV) policy of Pakistan granting massive tax exemptions to facilitate promotion of EVs in the country.
The EV policy approved by Cabinet allows one per cent sales tax for locally-made EVs up to 50 kwh and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) up to 150 kwh. The cabinet has also capped the duty on import of charging equipment at 1pc. Pakistani government has also removed additional customs duty (ACD).
Furthermore, EVs would be exempted from federal excise duty (FED), whereas import of machinery for manufacturing of these vehicles would be duty-free.
As per policy, there would be only 1pc tax on import of EV parts for manufacturers. Apart from the tax facilities, Pakistani government has also waived registration and annual renewal fee for EVs.
The increasing popularity of EVs in the Pakistani market is a positive sign for the future even though the charging infrastructure in the country is not currently developed with only 2 Charging stations in Karachi 2 in Lahore and 2 in Islamabad.
Audi Pakistan has already launched a pure EV (E-tron) in the Pakistani market while other companies including MG and gearing up to introduce EVs for consumers in the near future.
