While a majority of expensive bulletproof and bombproof vehicles of Prime Minister House failed to attract buyers during an auction, most of the other vehicles have been sold.
In all, 61 of the 102 luxury and surplus vehicles parked on the lawns of PM House were auctioned off during the daylong activity on Monday as part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s austerity drive.
A reinforced Land Cruiser V8 was auctioned for Rs27.4mn.
It was said that the auction has added Rs200mn to the national kitty.
A member of the auction committee said that six bulletproof vehicles and 55 other vehicles were sold during the daylong exercise.
He said that 20 low-priced vehicles were not included in Monday’s auction because of low bids, while 21 armoured vehicles, which failed to attract buyers due to their high prices, would be put up for sale later.
PM Office administrator Major Mohammad Asif told the media that the most expensive luxury vehicles would be put up for sale after re-evaluation of taxes.
He said the vehicles that were auctioned off during the day fetched good bids.
Interestingly, the committee had to hold auction of nine vehicles twice, as first successful bidders disappeared without submitting the token amount, probably after realising that they had given a higher bid.
While speaking with reporters at Parliament House earlier, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain claimed that 70 vehicles had been auctioned off although the auction was still in progress at the time.
He said that the bombproof and bulletproof vehicles, which were classified as “protected” vehicles, would be offered for sale in the next phase.
Terming the auction successful, the minister said that the objective of this exercise was to send a message to the public that their prime minister was one of them and the government would ensure that public money was not wasted.
During the auction, there was confusion among buyers because of tax rates affixed to vehicles’ windscreens.
They had assumed that in case of successful bidding, they would be charged the taxes separately.
In fact, the bidding included tax rates.
“I was interested in Toyota Corolla, but because of tax and duty rates, I did not submit a bid, later on I was told that tax and duty is included in auction amount, except for a 10% advance tax,” said Mohamed Ali, a prospective buyer.
He said that participants in the bidding process were expecting lower prices than were asked for.
This picture taken on Monday shows potential buyers and visitors at an auction of government-owned cars at the premises of Prime Minister House in Islamabad.
