[soleinkol]

Dear all:

I tried to search the threads for the topic, but could not find anything . Also I am not sure I am putting this in the right forum, if not, please move it MODS!

I am buying a Alto F8D LXi in Kolkata without any accessories. I would add them outside the dealership.

The net price I have got is 2.9L, which includes 5 yr road tax/registration, Insurance and usual foot mat & mud flaps. The Road tax + Registration charges are INR 22915/- (RTO Beltala).

The Sales Rep is saying that if I wish to fix any audio system to the car (even in future), I need to pay Rs. 1520/- extra. He also said we can not do it later, which seemed strange to me. I agree that it can be cumbersome later and costlier, if such a provision exists.

Is it a general process in West Bengal/Kolkata, or is there something wrong? Any comments/advice welcome!!

[sumitkalindi]

Provision of adding the audio option later is there, but as you stated that it becomes cumbersome, as I believe if done later, it is done on yearly basis, not for the five years, if done right in the beginning. However It seems that the Sales rep quoted you bit higher than the actual rates.

Also please note that it is fairly straightforward job, you just need the help of a professional, to pay taxes for the audio.

[soleinkol]

Many thanks Sumit! Is there anyway I can find the actual rates?

For example, this guy said Alto LXi road tax & registration (w/o audio) will be 22915/-, Rs. 1520 would be extra for audio - which you said could be high. Is there any online source, or how can I work it out?

Since the over all price looked good, I am going with the booking with approx delivery on Jan 1, though I have told him to call me before sending the car to registration to confirm the audio part.

[1100D]

Generally the problem is a lot reduced these days because its only when a cop verifies the contents of the car with respect to its registration papers that this comes up. These days stereo's are standard feature in almost every vehicle so there seems to be a tendency to overlook.

But yes, if there is a sound system in the vehicle, it is legally supposed to be mentioned in the registration papers.

You may register the vehicle with audio system and install the audio system later. Likewise for Sunfilm.

[condor]

The days when we had to register our radio's & have a license to listen are long long gone. There is no such thing as addnl cost (of regn) for installing ICE.

ICE is insured at about 4% of the cost of all the items together. Is he refering to the insurance of the ICE setup ?

[blackasta]

@condor - beg to differ.

@soleinkol - There is a audio tax (also a video tax) and sunfilm tax.
I have paid that to the RTO and have receipt. The same is reflected in my smart card (blue book) too.
The printing on the smart card of my i10 says:

Audio: y
Video: N

The reason sales rep says that we cannot do it later is that you have to change your smart card again to get it reflected. It is a cumbersome process.
He isn't trying to cheat you.

[aroop]

Somehow I didnt face this gyan when I bought mine 3 years ago. My smartcard says nothing about audio or video; I got it installed later and didnt pay anything.

Could be something new by the ailing government.

[arjab]

@soleinkol
yes...what the sales rep told you is correct. When i bought my SWIFT 4 years back this legislation was in force. this is another way of filling in RTO coffers and as far as i know restricted to West Bengal.
The Rs 1500/= that you will pay is reflected as "surcharge" or "special surcharge" on the tax token counterpart which Beltola issues.

the reality is that nobody pays, and the Kol Police still has not warmed up to the idea of checking the tax token of every vehicle fitted with a music system - yet !

[sumitkalindi]

@soleinkol

if you just poke your nose at your respective RTO office you will be able to know of the current rates, or you can also strike up a conversation with your friendly neighborhood garage, and find out the same, with the "service charge" they will take. I would suggest you to also go to the RTO personally the day your vehicle is being produced at RTO and talk with the vehicle inspector there and ask him to include the audio option. Having a friendly chat with him will take care of all this questions.

Please remember you are supposed to endorse the audio option, or cops can anytime fine you, they just need an excuse to fill up their monthly quota. Usually they overlook, but recently, specifically during the Puja's one of our vehicle had its audio system seized since the audio tax was not paid. Thankfully our ambassador had an el cheapo local "soni" fm kit only as its audio. Since the driver was in no mood to pay any fine, he removed the fm kit and handed it over to the Sergent. Anyway our loss was only rs 60/- instead of rs500/- fine Sergent was demanding.

Hope this answered your queries.

[ghodlur]

This is news to me. Why would some one pay addtional registration charges to an already regsistered vehicle if he/she goes for an ICE upgrade immediately or at a later date. Thats day light robbery IMO.

[sumitkalindi]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

This is news to me. Why would some one pay addtional registration charges to an already regsistered vehicle if he/she goes for an ICE upgrade immediately or at a later date. Thats day light robbery IMO.

In kolkata you need to pay additional tax to have Audio/ac/Video in your car, taxes are same for a local audio set up or a state of the art ICE setup.

All the above things are seen as luxury items and hence incur additional taxes.

About the robbery part Ahem... we have so much in common ;-)

[mayukh]

I paid approx 1500-1600 INR while registering my Fiesta 1.6 in January, 2010. So I think it's as per the rules. But doing it for sunfilm? That's news for me.

[blackasta]

The sunfilm law is even lax and almost never enforced. I was advised against paying anything by the showroom sales rep.

[pacman2881]

Originally Posted by sumitkalindi

In kolkata you need to pay additional tax to have Audio/ac/Video in your car, taxes are same for a local audio set up or a state of the art ICE setup.

All the above things are seen as luxury items and hence incur additional taxes.

About the robbery part Ahem... we have so much in common ;-)

Hope they don't count mud flaps as a luxury and charge a tax for that!
This is the first time I am hearing about such taxes. This is worth a mention in one of those 'Believe it or not' type programs.
Is there any other state with such rules? I didn't pay anything of that sort here in TN.

[BlackPearl]

In 2005 a cop had pulled me up for some random checking and did not find any issues with my license or the car documents. He was almost letting me go when he suddenly saw the music system and told me that it was not mentioned in the RC book. I had to pay a fine of Rs. 100 and paying that fine was also a cumbersome proceess.