The government has increased excise duty on two-wheelers to 30 percent from 15 percent, although customs duty has been slashed to 30 percent from 40 percent.
“This change in tax structures has caused the prices of Bajaj motorcycles to go up by at least Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 for different brands,” said Shekhar Golchha, managing director of Hansraj Hulaschand and Company, the authorized dealer of Bajaj two-wheelers for Nepal.
Alok Josee, manager of Hansraj Hulaschand & Co, elaborated that Bajaj bikes of up to 150 cc would cost Rs 2,000 more on average, while bikes more than 150 cc will be expensive by around Rs 5,000.
The company has decided to increase the prices after a long gap. It had not raised the prices of bikes even when devaluation of Nepali currency and increased prices of steel in international market was exerting pressure on it to hike prices.
Morang Auto Works (MAW), authorized dealer of Yamaha two-wheelers, is also planning to raise the prices of bikes. Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, motorcycle division chief of MAW, said it had already raised the prices of Enticer bikes and two other scooters by Rs 2,000 each.
“Although we had to increase the price of some of the bikes following revision of their prices in India, we had not raised prices of all the two-wheelers in order to free our customers from additional financial burden,” Agrawal added. MAW has left the prices of some of Yamaha´s most popular bikes, including FZ, YFZ and Gladiator series, as it was before the budget.
The only bikes that have not become expensive in the Nepali market are of Hero Honda and Honda. “We will raise the prices only if the revision in tax structures starts affecting our entire business,” said Laxman Ratna Tuladhar, manager of Syakar Company, the authorized dealer of Hero Honda and Honda motorbikes.
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