Bangalore :The Karnataka RTO has been on a drive to apprehend and fine vehicle owners who have registered their vehicles outside the state. In one massive drive in June, the RTO had seized 100 vehicles and issued notices for Rs: 1 Crore.
As per the amended Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation Act (January 2014), owners must pay lifetime tax in the state if their non KA registered vehicles ply continuously in the state for more than 30 days. This has caused fear and distress among vehicle owners.
While the State Govt.’s move is legal and the actions of its officials are well within the prescribed rules it goes against some of the decisions taken by the the Transport Development Council in October last year.
The council met on October 23rd last year. It is chaired by the Union minister of road transport and highways and comprises heads of the transport department of all the states. Both Karnataka’s minister of transport and the transport department commissioner were party to the meeting at which the council decided that no lifetime tax should be charged on vehicles plying in another state for a period of three months (90 Days). The meeting was followed by an advisory to implement the Council’s decisions. The Karnataka Government however amended the relevant act to specify that such vehicles can ply only for 30 days before they are brought under the ambit of the State’s lifetime tax.
There were two other decisions taken by the council to aid migrant traffic – The council decided that “no tax may be charged in the new state if the vehicle is more than two years old and no refund be given from the original state”. All an owner may need in such cases, is an NOC from the original state and the payment of registration fee to obtain a KA registration. However “Full tax may be charged in the new state if the vehicle is less than two years old with refund from original state if the vehicle is moved inter-state permanently.”
However, it is true that, owners of high end vehicles register their vehicles in neighboring states to take the benefit of lower vehicle taxes. It is this unhealthy practice that the Govt. wants to crack down upon and the Govt. plans to continue the crackdown as per the amended Act.
In India, it is very difficult to get anything done, let alone get a refund. The Centre should take the initiative and set up a mechanism for interstate communication and transfer of Life time tax balances against a vehicle so that the vehicle owners need pay only the balances. With so much of technology available today, this should not prove difficult and will make life easier all around. It will also ensure better enforcement of the rule.
