The Agency for Waste Management and Circular Economy of Uzbekistan announced a significant adjustment to the draft legislative act concerning the old car disposal system.
The Agency for Waste Management and Circular Economy of Uzbekistan announced a significant adjustment to the draft legislative act concerning the old car disposal system.
The document was amended by removing the provision that required owners of vehicles aged 30 or older to pay an annual compensatory environmental fee. This decision was made following extensive public discussions and consideration of submitted proposals and feedback.
The most controversial point was the mandatory annual environmental fee of 30 basic calculation units, equivalent to 12.36 million soums; this clause has been excluded from the updated version of the draft law.
Instead of a compulsory payment system, a voluntary disposal system based on market principles is proposed. Under the new concept, enterprises responsible for independent valuation and recycling of old cars will be selected nationwide through open tenders.
Vehicles, including non-operational ones, will be valued based on market price. Inspections for vehicles that cannot move independently are planned to be conducted directly at their location.
After valuation, the owner can choose one of two compensation options: receiving cash or a special voucher. This voucher can be used as a down payment when purchasing a new car from an official dealer. It is proposed that the remaining cost of the car will be covered by interest-free installments over a period of two to seven years.
If the owner decides not to use the voucher, they can exchange it for cash within one month. A portion of the costs incurred by operators conducting vehicle valuation and disposal is planned to be covered by funds collected from the disposal fee.
The Agency presented an example of how the proposed mechanism would function. According to the Agency, if an old car, such as a GAZ-24, Moskvich, or first-generation Nexia, is valued at a minimum of 5 million soums, the owner can purchase a new Cobalt without a down payment, paying monthly interest-free installments of about 1.9 million soums over seven years. If the valuation reaches 70 million soums, the monthly payment will decrease to 1.13 million soums.
The Agency links the necessity of this reform to environmental factors. According to the Agency, out of five million registered vehicles in Uzbekistan, about 100,000 are non-operational and generate 63% of harmful urban emissions. Furthermore, the disposal of one vehicle produces up to 50 kilograms of hazardous solid waste.
The Agency emphasized that work on the draft law is ongoing and called on citizens to submit their suggestions and comments for further improvement of the document.