The government is launching a new subsidy plan for disposing of old diesel vehicles following the first scheme that ended mid-March this year.
The idea is to continue to remove highly polluting vehicles from Macau roads or replace them with new ones with better environmental performance, the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) announced early this week.
As before, the plan aims to subsidize owners of diesel-powered vehicles that are at least ten years old to dispose of them.
In the first phase of this scheme, launched in mid-September last year, the DSPA was aiming to remove vehicles 20 years and older from the roads across two phases.
In the first phase, applications will be accepted to dispose of old diesel vehicles licensed until Dec. 31, 2008, and, in the second phase, those licensed from Jan. 1, 2009 and up to Dec. 31, 2013.
The first phase kicks off on June 1 this year and will last for one year until May 31, 2024. The second phase will start immediately after and is expected to finish on May 31, 2025.
Under the new plan, there were some changes made to the subsidy amount to be granted to vehicle owners, with the minimum amount remaining at MOP25,000 and the maximum being raised from MOP115,000 to MOP155,000.
The measure applies both to passenger and cargo vehicles as well as light and heavy-duty vehicles. The subsidy amounts to be granted relate to the type of vehicle, number of passengers that can be transported and gross weight of the vehicle.
Higher amounts are for cargo or mixed-use vehicles with a gross weight above 30 tons, while the minimum amount will be allocated to those same vehicles with a gross weight less than or equal to 1.9 tons.
As a reference, a common passenger vehicle with nine seats or fewer will be granted a subsidy of MOP30,000, while a bus with over 31 seats will be granted a MOP85,000 subsidy.
According to DSPA, under the first plan (which lasted only six months), there was a participation rate of 33%, equivalent to 313 vehicles meeting the requirements for disposal.
The DSPA also clarified that after the application is submitted and vehicle owners are notified that they are eligible for the subsidy, they must dispose of the vehicle within 180 days.
Less popular was the plan that aimed to replace obsolete petrol-powered motorcycles with electric vehicles, according to the data provided by DSPA. The plan was intended to encourage the disposal of between 10% and 30% of such, but fell short of expectations and resulted in the disposal of only around 7%.
Nonetheless, the DSPA is also launching a new round of the same plan. Unlike the diesel-powered disposal plan, the motorcycle to be disposed of can only be replaced by a new model.
The subsidy amount also remains unchanged (MOP3,500), with additional benefits via tax exemptions and fee waivers on the licensing of the new vehicle potentially reaching as much as MOP8,800.
As in the new plan for diesel vehicles, the new motorcycle plan also comprises two phases.
The first phase (in place up to May 31, 2024) will focus on motorcycles registered until Dec. 31, 2010, and the second phase will include those registered up to Dec. 31, 2013.
