Thana Registrations may be fined soon

[GTO]

Was reported in this mornings Times of India. The BMC is tightening its noose around octroi evaders who register their cars in bogus Thana/Pune/Nasik addresses and then freely drive the vehicle around in Bombay.

They are going to start with contacting society's for registration numbers of vehicles parked in their respective compounds. I dont think this society co-operation thing will work, but count on them to get details of thana-registered cars directly from car dealerships.

Voluntary disclosure and subsequent payment would amount to only the 4.5% Octroi. But if the BMC catches you first, its 4.5% octroi + 10 times the octroi as penalty.

When the BMC gets serious, they do get the job done. In my opinion, Octroi is the stupidest and most pointless tax ever. But when you gotta pay, you gotta pay.

GTO

[v12]

hey gto. they were supposed to do this stuff last year too. but the plan flopped.

However even if they do manage to go ahead with the plan, i hope they make good use of the fines to make our roads better. There are 1000s of MH-04 regd cars in Mumbai.

[Rtech]

ahem...I have a Pune registered car. But then again, its not a bogus registration so I guess I'm safe! Although I'll expect some kinda harrasment to prove the address!! sheesh!

Nice country we live in where we can't drive freely in different states or even different parts of the SAME state!! This is the state of affairs our States are in...(sorry, I couldn't resist the pun )

Rtech

[Stratos]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (v12 @ July 13 2004,10:32)]hey gto. they were supposed to do this stuff last year too. but the plan flopped.

However even if they do manage to go ahead with the plan, i hope they make good use of the fines to make our roads better. There are 1000s of MH-04 regd cars in Mumbai.

Yeah!.. u go out.. u see most of the cars with Thane regn. They say in the papers that they will collect the info from the secretaries of societies abt car no. plates in that society... thats a good plan actually!!

[RJK]

well its just bogus i'm safe. Both my cars are MH-04 but i do happen to have a house in Vashi. The only thing is that I dont live there.

[GTO]

Well, the tax authorities have a history of wringing defaulters by the neck, when the need arises.

Example 1 : From 1995 - 1998, MP (Madhya Pradesh/Daman registration) cars were very popular with buyers in maharashtra since it saved them "entry tax" to the tune of almost 8% of purchase price. The relevant dept. cracked down really hard and MP buyers were literally forced to pay up or have their cars impounded. Today, you dont see any MP cars on the road.

Example 2 : When the RTO implemented the one-time-tax rule, cars were being impounded right off the road and parked at the HQ in Tardeo. Almost every car on the road today has paid up the one time tax.

Finding loopholes in the tax system is an age old practice, but when you do so by breaking the rules (Bogus registrations etc.) it puts you in a vulnerable position. The growing popularity of Thana registration cars (MH-04) is for all to see on the road, I sometimes see more MH-04 new cars than bombay registered cars. Its a goldmine for the octroi department...they are just finding a solution to cracking down on defaulters in an effective manner.

GTO

[Rtech]

I think that dealers selling cars should be fined as well. I remember when we bought our car, they were actively pushing us to take a Thane registration to save octroi. They said that "everyone does it, its not problem. The RTO "officially" gives you a fake address!" All it takes is Rs.1,500/- in the right hands!

The officials should conduct a sting operation and fine these dealers heavily. This in turn would reduce the number of bogus registrations as most owners would not go about registering the vehicle themselves.

I think the whole idea of an Octroi charge is stupid, but the fact remains that a law is a law, and if you break it, you are responsible.

Rtech

[bobby]

There seems to be a lot of awareness on RTO laws here ! so I guess its a good place to try and figure out a solution to my problem (if there really is one !!) ... I moved to Mumbai around 4 months back ... and have a WB (West Bengal) registration ... Nobody seems to know what I'm actually supposed to do ... and frankly I haven't really bothered much because .. well . I haven't been bothered !! but does anybody know what are the actuall laws regarding cars regd outside mumbai ? incidentally ... I do have a residence in west bengal .. and my family still stays there .. if that was ever an issue .
Thanks
bobby

[Rtech]

Well, technically, if you are residing in Mumbai for any length of time (couple of years) you are supposed to transfer the car over here.

However, considering the extra tax you would have to shell out for this, most people, rightly so, don't bother doing this.

If you do get caught, all you have to do is say that you are actually from WB and are here on work/holiday or whatever. BUT, the catch is, you should then have your WB licence as well, coz the pandu is smart enough to know that if you're here on a holiday, you're not gonna get a MH licence!

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ] I do have a residence in west bengal .. and my family still stays there .. if that was ever an issue .

Plus, in your case, you still have your original residence in WB, so it should really be no problem for you.

Rtech

[bobby]

Thanks a lot rtech. I do have my WB licence as well .... my level of concern increased regarding this recently though since I had a free-flow exhaust installed ... and I guess it does tend to attract a bit of attention. .. but now I can rest easy..
Thanks again

[F50]

Octroi Charges are really stupid ...... And people do go for thane redn. just to save couple of 1000's ...But I have my car and the previous one, both Bombay regn. no tension ....

[RJK]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]just to save couple of 1000's

well..those 1000's multiply as & when you buy bigger cars. I think on Santro you save about 15-20k & on a midsizer 30-40k. So its really not a small amount after all

[Stratos]

I sold my Indica 2 months back.. it had Pune (MH-12) regn. but it was a proper regn with the address of my house in Pune. My dad sold it to his friend who stays nearby. Now, for transfering the address from Pune to Mumbai and Octroi he paid Rs 12,000/- now.. thats too much!!!

[ajmat]

Why bother with catch 10000 + mh04 Marutis - focus on the hr51 ferraris etc - thats where the money is !

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (rtech @ July 13 2004,17:32)]If you do get caught, all you have to do is say that you are actually from WB and are here on work/holiday or whatever. BUT, the catch is, you should then have your WB licence as well, coz the pandu is smart enough to know that if you're here on a holiday, you're not gonna get a MH licence!

Plus, in your case, you still have your original residence in WB, so it should really be no problem for you.

You cannot say that you're from WB and you're here for a hoilday or work. This trick may work once or twice but not all the time.
I don't see any problem with WB licence. They're valid all over the country like any other state licence. All one needs to do is to change the residence address during renewal of licence.
Issue is really with car's registration number. Especially when it's going all over the city. Basically the system is to ask for a NOC (no objection certificate) from the RTO (WB in this case) with an application sent with registered mail. This will be your trump card. No RTO will get back to you within a month time (WB for sure). For that one month you can tell all cops that you've already applied for a NOC by showing your acknowledgement slip. After one month apply fresh for a re-registration along with your acknowledgement slip as proof. You'll get your oven fresh RC book very soon and cops wil be really really happy to see you again on the road.
This is from my own experience.