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Old 20th November 2011, 15:25   #31
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

I still prefer the older annual tax payment. You got a token, which was displayed on the vehicle. At least in Delhi, paying road tax was not all that tedious. If you were a member of the Automobile association, then all you did was to go there pay the requisite charge and collect your token. A five minute job on normal days and at the most a fifteen minutes during rush hours.

I still see no rationale in paying a one time tax and being tied down to a State. With current mobility of jobs, you never know where you will land up next. Getting a car transferred or selling it, adds to the over heads of relocation. Way back in 1980, when my colleague sold his TN registered car to me, I just submitted the sale letter to the Delhi RTO, and after six months (time required for them to get an NOC), I got a Delhi number. As tax was levied annually, there were no hassles as today in getting the tax adjusted/transferred, you any way paid tax to the local RTO every year.

All the government has to do, is to create an online application, where you have access to your vehicles data, and keep the data base upto date of your location. Let the application apportion the tax to which ever State you are in, from your life term tax.
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Old 22nd November 2011, 17:26   #32
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

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Originally Posted by coolclouds View Post
I think the taxes for diesel cars should be on the higher side compared to petrol cars as they are getting subsidized fuel. (Sorry guys, dirty mind of a petrol car owner)
well if you cannot afford a diesel stop cribbing, anyways from april diesel cars will be taxed more.


anyways my idea..

I think Centralized Road Tax is good or linked to your RC or UID. So if i pay like 5k in Delhi for road tax, i move to karnataka, where road tax is 10k and i am planing to stay for more than year, i just pay the difference. No headache of refund or repay etc. But yes the whole system needs to be centralized, if i move to a lower taxed state it could be credited as bonus, remains in my account etc, so when i buy a new car it gets adjusted or when i move again.
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Old 22nd November 2011, 19:26   #33
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

Both Income Tax and Road Tax should give us a right to launch consumer rights and file fast channel consumer governance against the governments.
Including situations, where people end-up waiting on road cause of some political, religious power showing walk-athon blocking traffic. Government should refund the last paid such taxes, if the case is proven correct as a grievance.
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Old 23rd November 2011, 18:25   #34
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

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well if you cannot afford a diesel stop cribbing, anyways from april diesel cars will be taxed more.
Oh really?? Can you please provide some detailed info on this?
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Old 23rd November 2011, 21:00   #35
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

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Oh really?? Can you please provide some detailed info on this?
Diesel cars to cost more in Delhi - Economic Times

atleast in Delhi, please check the link above. Also i saw it in TV news sometime ago, will try to find that article if it was in paper.
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Old 24th November 2011, 19:58   #36
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

Please let the Petrol vs Diesel debate continue in the dedicated thread.

Annual tax implimentation would be a challenge and not to mention the pains one would have to take to get it done.

I feel road tax should be abolished. They have road cess in fuel, maybe the state government can increase that and collect their taxes from the sale of fuel in the state. Inter-border filling wouldnt really dent the coffers so much. People anyway buy vehicles across state borders to save on road tax.
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Old 25th November 2011, 10:24   #37
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

My take:

1. Centralized Road Tax, applying the proration when moving across states
2. A single reasonable % (not 15%) across the country only based on the CC of the car (not the ex-showroom price), not varying across states. We could look at a lesser % for smaller cities where there aren't too many vehicles plying
3. Applicable for 5 years - please no lifetime!!
4. Online payment with issuance of PDF RC (like LIC issues premium certificates online), visit to the RTO office only for the very first time, when the car gets registered in the database.
5. Another visit to the RTO office when ownership changes.

Last edited by Tats07 : 25th November 2011 at 10:30.
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Old 25th November 2011, 11:30   #38
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

If I take the trouble of getting a pollution certificate every three months, paying tax annually would not increase the trouble, especially if I can pay the tax where I get pollution check done.

Paying tax annually will get rid of all the problems we are facing paying (and recovering in case of transfer) of the one time tax. It further levels the playing field. Today I can pay any where between 50K and 2.5L as road tax for say a Fortuner, which can lead to a lot of leakages in tax revenue if you are smart enough. (Uttarakhand allows out of state registration, so I can legally save 2L in road tax driving in Delhi). This will not happen if I pay tax annually.
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Old 25th November 2011, 13:31   #39
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

In my opinion the road registration tax should be for the entire country. As a matter of fact, for all practical purposes it is. Especially with people now on the move from one corner to the other, it is just not viable to reregister.

Also, I wish to stand clarified on tolls:

Is there a mandatory statute that an alternate route has to be available before a toll booth is set up? This goes back to some of the old PWD rule books if am not wrong...
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Old 25th November 2011, 16:43   #40
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

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In my opinion the road registration tax should be for the entire country. As a matter of fact, for all practical purposes it is. Especially with people now on the move from one corner to the other, it is just not viable to reregister.

Also, I wish to stand clarified on tolls:

Is there a mandatory statute that an alternate route has to be available before a toll booth is set up? This goes back to some of the old PWD rule books if am not wrong...
Yes there is, the only catch is how far away. For example if a new road from point A to B is 50km long, an alternative route can be any where from 50km to 150km, the surface may be good or horrible - but the alternative is there. Similarly for major bridges, the alternative may involve a lot of travel.

Even on the HN8 expressway or the DND in Delhi, the alternative routes are not only there, they are pretty near adjacent, but the toll roads are more convenient.
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Old 28th November 2011, 23:43   #41
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

Centralized registration and tax to central government is best option i feel.
Our vehicles are not at all limited in states nowadays. if National highways go across states, vehicles will go across states.

Consider my case. My permanent address is of Maharashtra. For job sake, i stay in Tamilnadu, where i don't have permanent address. I use vehicle in Karnataka as well. Thus, I drive in 3 states frequently. Neither i can afford to pay lifetime taxes to 3 states for 3 vehicles nor i can opt to pay the tax whenever i go to particular state as my usage is completely random.

What i currently do is use MH registered vehicle in TN and KA. If at all cops stop me, i tell them i am tourist, as my permanent address on driving licence is of maharashtra.

I visited TN RTO 2-3 times. They are not ready to accept road tax itself. They say it is for transport vehicles only. If i want to use it here, i should get vehicle re-registered. Now how shall i change registration every another day?

Last edited by vkarulkar : 28th November 2011 at 23:45.
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Old 29th November 2011, 06:55   #42
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

I agree that RTOs should be controlled by the Centre. There is so much corruption and inefficiency in the state RTOs that one just cannot do anything without much pain and anguish. The reason, btw for lifetime tax, is politically motivated, so the next govt rulling the state cannot ask for more funds unlike when there is a yearly registration fee, the govt is assured of income every year. With income tax, passports becoming more hassle free and online, why cant RTO transactions also be fully computerized and citizen friendly?
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Old 29th November 2011, 11:45   #43
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

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I suspect something more than it meets the eye, that being completely illegal.

There had been instances where two vehicles are being run on a single permit.

.
Habe you been to any private bus operators bus yard? I've noticed that there are many volvos running on 1 regn number.
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Old 29th November 2011, 12:48   #44
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

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Habe you been to any private bus operators bus yard? I've noticed that there are many volvos running on 1 regn number.
Many operators prefer similar regn numbers for their fleet. KPN prefer 1, 9919, 9199; Infants 7000, 5000,6000 etc etc for eg. I heard that an operator from Ernakulam used same number plates for their different buses in 90's though not sure if the news is genuine.
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Old 29th November 2011, 16:55   #45
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Re: Road Tax on Vehicles- Need to relook

On a lighter note, "where is the road for which we are being asked to pay road-tax?"!
Am currently in Pune, and if you look at the state of roads here, they are either filled with potholes in several areas (starting to feel like I'm driving on the moon - minus the gravity!); or a tipper truck has just dumped rubble on the side which covers half the width of the road; or for that matter pretty narrow in some areas where it is extremely difficult to drive.

Before I incur the wrath of all of you, I would also like to clarify, that it probably isn't so in every place, but if you look at the way the city is expanding in terms of construction - the roads are just not keeping up!

It perhaps is high time that the Muncipal Corporations and the Road authorities wake up, and start putting these funds to good use. Am sure there isn't any lack of funds - its just a matter of providing the correct push.

Personally, I would say, abolish the road tax, and instead add or re-evaluate the tax component in fuel. Then, we wouldn't need to worry about the bhp / size of the engine / years of running etc.
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