Ceylon Wire News reported on November 4 that protests erupted in front of BYD's car showroom in Colombo, demanding the resolution of the issue of BYD cars being detained by customs. In February 2025, the Sri Lankan government announced the abolition of the previous ban on private car imports implemented due to the economic crisis and foreign exchange shortages, and re-adjusted the car import tariff system, clearly linking the import tax rate for electric vehicles with factors such as motor power. Faced with market opportunities, BYD opened its first showroom and after-sales service center in Sri Lanka in August 2024, and began delivering electric vehicles to Sri Lanka from March 2025. However, the technical committee designated by Sri Lankan customs raised doubts about BYD's declaration, suspecting that BYD had declared a 100 kW model instead of a 150 kW model to evade taxes. Since July 2025, the Sri Lankan customs have detained over 2000 BYD cars. Local importer John Keells CG denied the relevant accusations and stated that it would take legal measures to ensure timely delivery of the vehicles. At the beginning of August, the court allowed the release of 991 vehicles after the importer provided a bank guarantee. On October 24, the court ordered the Sri Lankan customs to accelerate the investigation and resolve the detention issue as soon as possible, but a large number of consumers still could not collect their vehicles, leading to continued dissatisfaction and eventually triggering the above protests.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848062075352076/
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