A group of around 700 individuals who claim to have ordered BYD vehicles through John Keells Holdings— the official importer of BYD vehicles to Sri Lanka—staged a protest on the 4th in front of the BYD main showroom located in Union Place, Colombo. They allege that despite having made payments for their vehicles, the company has failed to hand them over, resulting in the vehicles remaining at the port for months without being released.
Speaking to the media, Information Technology Engineer M.A.P. Chinthaka, a member of the group, stated that approximately 700 people had placed orders for BYD vehicles and that the vehicles had arrived at the port around five months ago. However, John Keells has failed to release the vehicles, and as a result, the vehicles are now deteriorating at the port.
He further added:
“I am M.A.P Chinthaka. By profession, I am an IT engineer. Standing here are representatives of nearly 700 members of the BYD group. All of them ordered BYD vehicles through John Keells. The issue is that the BYD vehicles arrived at the port and have been sitting there for five months, deteriorating. Until now, John Keells has taken no action on this matter.
There have already been several court hearings, and permission has been granted to release the vehicles with a bank guarantee. But John Keells still has not taken any action. They are wasting time.
Right now, what we will receive are vehicles that have been deteriorating at the port for six months. The company gave us three options a month ago. One option was to refund the money in four months. Then they told us we could stay on the waiting list if we wished, or purchase the BYD Seal Line 5 model. Now imagine someone who invested Rs. 10 million in a Dolphin car—how can they suddenly pay another Rs. 6 million to get the Seal Line 5? That option is not practical. They are simply pushing customers to spend an additional Rs. 6 million to buy a different model. That’s not possible.
At this point, we are left with only one option, and even that option has now expired. The only alternative they give is to keep waiting with no timeframe—maybe we’ll get the vehicle someday after several months.”
Journalist:
What steps will you take next regarding this issue?
Chinthaka:
“This is not our first time coming to John Keells. This is the third time. Previously, our group members and admins met with employees here, but we were never allowed to meet the board of directors. We only got to speak with regular staff. Another important point is that these are not regular petrol vehicle customers. Almost 50% of the customers have already installed solar systems at their homes specifically for these EVs—spending nearly Rs. 2 million. Many also spent around Rs. 150,000 to install charging points. Some individuals even sold their existing vehicles five months ago in preparation for receiving these electric vehicles. Now they travel by bus daily for work. Representatives have come today from every district—Kantalai, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Kandy, Ratnapura. Meanwhile, John Keells continued accepting vehicle orders even while the court case was ongoing. They only stopped taking orders recently. This clearly shows they knowingly acted irresponsibly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have put customers in this situation.
We have no other options. For five months, our vehicles have been sitting at the port. We now need to look for alternative transport. Initially, we were told we would get a 70kW or 100kW vehicle, not a 150kW or higher model. Even if there were technical issues, that has nothing to do with us. All we want is for John Keells to release our vehicles at the agreed price. They have the ability to do so with the bank guarantee. Our issue will be resolved if they simply release the vehicles at the previously agreed price.”
Chanaka Liyanage
