Under the Motorcycle Industry Development Policy 2018, a target was set to manufacture 1 million (10 lakh) motorcycles annually by 2027. However, motorcycle sales are declining. Industry data suggests 600,000 motorcycles were sold in 2022, falling to 464,000 in 2025.
Subrata Ranjan Das, managing director of ACI Motors, which operates a motorcycle manufacturing plant in technical collaboration with Japan’s Yamaha, told Prothom Alo that investors need a predictable policy framework. Frequent policy changes discourage investment.
He said that due to public transport crisis, most people use motorcycles out of compulsion. They can’t buy cars because the prices are too high. Motorcycles are also one of the main modes of transportation used by sales representatives of corporate companies.
Describing motorcycles as a lifeline for the country’s economy, Subrata Ranjan Das said that the inconvenience caused to the common people by such taxes would outweigh the financial benefits to the government, and hence the matter should be considered rationally.
Many people in Dhaka earn a living by riding motorcycles. One of them is Suman Rehman, who was waiting for passengers in the Caravan Bazaar area on Wednesday.
When asked about the proposed advance tax, he said, “Riding a motorcycle for seven or eight hours a day takes a toll on the body. The back, neck and other parts get worn out. I don’t want to do this work anymore. The government should give me a job.”