[rubicon]

news from todays chennai edition of Times of India newspaper


9 Chennai cars booked for road tax evasion, officials collect Rs 36L

The state transport authority, in a crackdown over the last two weeks, has booked nine high-end cars for tax evasion and collected 36 lakh in road taxes. The cars are worth more than 10 lakh each.

The cars, whose owners live in Chennai, were registered in Puducherry due to the large difference in road taxes. "Most of them give a temporary address in Puducherry but when we check their driving licence we find they have permanent address in Chennai," said transport commissioner T Prabhakara Rao.

In Tamil Nadu, people with cars costing more than 10 lakh have to pay 15% of the value as road tax, while those with cars below 10 lakh have to pay 10% at the time of registration. During checking, officials collect 8.75% for cars below 10 lakh and 13.75% for those above 10 lakh. "We deduct 0.25% for every year since it was registered," said an official. The Puducherry transport department, however, charges a flat 55,000 for vehicles above 20 lakh and 15,000 for below the same amount.

The number of cars caught is just the tip of the iceberg. Sources say brokers in Puducherry work with officials by allowing vehicles to be registered with a temporary address. "If the owner says he/she is a resident of Puducherry and is in Chennai for a short visit, we ask them to produce other documents like ration card, passport or voter's ID. In most cases, just the licence gives them away," said the official.

The authority has written to the Union ministry of road transport and highways to seek a change in laws.

The crackdown against such vehicles has been intensified. "We are running low on revenue and have to meet annual targets," said a transport official.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Now this is what Bangalore should have done too, ideally. Check the records and trap the guys who actually are permanent residents of Bangalore, but having other state registered cars, rather than going on an all-out offensive against other state cars.

And they have gone targeted high- end owners who actually practise (and gain from) this more than the average IT guy. 36L from 9 cars is significantly high and indicates the cars were really from the luxury segment.

That said- I expect states like KL and AP also to follow KA footsteps soon. It's going to be increasingly difficult for the real floating population to travel from one state to another without being checked and questioned. A time has come where even people on vacation need to carry all toll receipts and documents to stay safe.

[swiftdiesel]

So, the actual intent of this crackdown is because transport department is short on meeting targets. Once they meet their target, it's business as usual, eh? Cool! I love these guys for their "honest" admittance. After all, these high end cars are golden eggs waiting to hatch as and when needed.

[Santoshbhat]

Plenty of PY registered high end cars in KA too. Most of these people are influential and easily get away with it. By registering the car in PY, the savings in road tax exceed are huge for these high end cars, exceeding 10 to 15L in some cases.

PY road tax is absurdly low when compared to other states. Take the example of a car costing ₹ 75L. The road tax in Karnataka would be about ₹ 15L whereas in PY its a mere ₹ 1L. The incentive to register the car in PY is huge!

[Fullrevs]

The review only talks about cars that are above 10L. I have personally witnessed cars in the 1crore and above price range having their way in cities like Chennai and Bangalore. I wonder if they would eventually go after them too.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Plenty of PY registered high end cars in KA too. Most of these people are influential and easily get away with it. By registering the car in PY, the savings in road tax exceed are huge for these high end cars, exceeding 10 to 15L in some cases.

PY road tax is absurdly low when compared to other states. Take the example of a car costing ₹ 75L. The road tax in Karnataka would be about ₹ 15L whereas in PY its a mere ₹ 1L. The incentive to register the car in PY is huge!

True, I saw a Range Rover in Bangalore, was at the church every Sunday with a temp registration for at least 2 months. One day it gets a fancy PY number. I am sure the owner saved at least 20 lakhs in the bargain. 55k is what base hatches pay.

The thing is that if you have influence, you can get away most of the time. Apparently there are only 4 squads to check for defaulters in all of Bangalore. Checks are meant only for middle class folks who can't call a minister's secretary to get off the hook.

[aajohn]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

True, I saw a Range Rover in Bangalore, was at the church every Sunday with a temp registration for at least 2 months. One day it gets a fancy PY number. I am sure the owner saved at least 20 lakhs in the bargain. 55k is what base hatches pay.

And 50 k is the upper limit of any luxury car in PY !!

Originally Posted by avira_tk

The thing is that if you have influence, you can get away most of the time. Apparently there are only 4 squads to check for defaulters in all of Bangalore. Checks are meant only for middle class folks who can't call a minister's secretary to get off the hook.

Absolutely agree. They wouldnt dare touch the luxury segment where in they could make more money. They would prefer to milk the middle class instead.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by rubicon

In Tamil Nadu, people with cars costing more than 10 lakh have to pay 15% of the value as road tax, while those with cars below 10 lakh have to pay 10% at the time of registration. During checking, officials collect 8.75% for cars below 10 lakh and 13.75% for those above 10 lakh. "We deduct 0.25% for every year since it was registered," said an official.

Didnt undertsand the logic of TN authorities to reduce the road tax for the vehicles when caught illegally plying in the state. Shouldnt they charge the actual tax rates? This way the owners will realize that they may have to over pay if caught (Puducherry tax + TN tax) and the false registering may reduce.

There was an half hearted drive done by the Mumbai/Thane RTO's long time back but the drive fizzled out since some VIP's were targetted and became a political event.

[rajeev k]

It is high time that the Central Government to take steps to implement uniform tax rates across all states so that India is one country and that all Indians are my brothers and sisters policy becomes real. Not for motor vehicle tax but for all taxation regimes.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

It is high time that the Central Government to take steps to implement uniform tax rates across all states so that India is one country and that all Indians are my brothers and sisters policy becomes real. Not for motor vehicle tax but for all taxation regimes.

Your brother/sister policy is too weak if taxation makes you to think otherwise. There should be more de-centralization and smaller units should be able to have their own policies and use it to be better than others.

Its like the more you invest in public schemes, the more the development. It might not seem so because of corruption issues but its still better.

For states where there is more development and more stress on resources, there is no favourable central govt funding. It all depends on coalition, blackmail etc.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by srishiva

For states where there is more development and more stress on resources, there is no favourable central govt funding. It all depends on coalition, blackmail etc.

This is exactly why I said so.

[Rahul Rao]

Pune also has lot of JH and PY registered cars with fake addresses, occasional NL registered vehicles are visible too. But other state vehicles here are mostly genuine travelers. There was a time when I had to travel a lot, and used to keep one Taxi registered car, and pay annual tax in Pune and short term tax in states that I went too.
Saved trouble with authorities, and except the KA people on the border after Nipani others always collected only the tax without any hassle.
If I have a year long project in any neighboring state I will gladly pay tax for a year, but having to pay OTT is daylight robbery.

Rahul

[WYN]

Originally Posted by rubicon

[b][i]
The crackdown against such vehicles has been intensified. "We are running low on revenue and have to meet annual targets," said a transport official.

Is that even a official statement? It just stuns me!
The official means to otherwise say that, if the Dept. had enough revenues and if targets were met, everything would have been just fine...
PY registered cars in TN evading tax or not.

Nonetheless, I think I might have to caution my friend who is about to go the same route
of getting a new PY registered Range Rover EVOQUE here in Goa.
It's not so much of an issue here but you never know they too might someday run low on revenue and have to meet annual targets!!!

Apparently, it's luxury car companies who are struggling for sales
or who have not yet set-up shop in the state that are trying to lure customers with PY deals across India.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

That said- I expect states like KL and AP also to follow KA footsteps soon. It's going to be increasingly difficult for the real floating population to travel from one state to another without being checked and questioned. A time has come where even people on vacation need to carry all toll receipts and documents to stay safe.

KL has already started a crackdown on PY regd vehicles. They ask the owners to prove that they are permanent resident of Pondicherry - and they are getting that verified through the Tehsildars in PY!

Since Kerala has a PY enclave in the state, the process becomes evenmore cumbersome because a lot of genuine PY residents might also get pulled up.

[tosathyas]

In AP we can run the other state registered vehicles by just paying the road tax (without registering in AP RTO or change number). Is this possible in Chennai? I have a MH registered car and wondered if I can make a payment of roadtax alone and continue with the number. Also is this less expensive than re-registering, coz mine is not a fancy number to retain.