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-   -   German Cars with HR and CH number plates in Mumbai! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/96579-german-cars-hr-ch-number-plates-mumbai.html)

Hi all - just seeing an “odd “ number occurrence in Mumbai.

Of late in last 2-3 months I am seeing a number of German cars ,BMW,Audi and Porsche (do not remember any Mercedes though) sporting HR or Ch number plates.( I believe they are Haryana and Chandigarh.) Surprisingly many vehicles have stickers of Mumbai Dealerships.

The areas which I frequent are Vashi ,Goregaon ,Andheri and western line in general. In Vashi where I stay I see many vehicles. In fact yesterday I saw a Porsche Cayanne Diesel with HR Number plate.

8-10 years back their was huge registration inflow of Gujrat and Daman registered ( GJ and DN) in Mumbai to save taxes. Also still many residents of Mumbai register their vehicles in Thane,Vashi or Raigad ( MH 04,MH43 or MH06) to save taxes.

Premium imported vehicles with MP number plates is different category ,which I think discussed in forum.

So what is the reason behind this German-Punjabi marriage happening in Maharashtra???:Shockked:please:

@ Moderators – Please shift this post in appropriate section or merge this with existing thread (if any.)

Two threads that might shed some light :

Fake regn numbers on imported cars

Posted just yesterday :
High court lifts double tax

cya
R

Hi,

You come to Ahmedabad and every other car costing above 50L, you will see a HR or CH reg plates. the % of duty is almost 9.5% less than here. so a car costing above 50L, saving of that amount is huge. The RTO in Ahmedabad has started a major crack down on these cars and making the owners pay a penalty + the difference tax.

I have a few friends who had their A4, Range rover etc on CH plates and had to pay the fine. From what i remember from a conversation with him, he saved about 8L on his 5 series registration & about 3.75 on his A4.

I've spotted some brand new German cars (7 series, Audis etc.) with CH registration in Pune recently. Mostly on weekend mornings so it's possible it's the same Mumbai cars after an expressway run. But it strikes me as strange!

It's also cheap- these guys spend a crore plus on a car but can't be bothered to pay taxes at the prevalent rate? That's just sad.

Well, there are 2 ways to it. One, they know they can get away with it due to the loopholes in the law and the cops/RTO and second, this calls for a uniform rate of road tax across all states which is justifiable, unlike the MH and KA road taxes.

This is going on for a while in Mumbai. Obviously it's cheaper to register cars in Chandigarh and Haryana. Even among the cheaper cars there are a lot of DN & DD registered cars.

If a state government can manage their road transport department with say, a 5% tax, I don't see how another state levying 15% is justified. And, as long as governments offer opportunity for such arbitrage (?), there is nothing wrong in that.

Further, the owners of many imported/ high- end vehicles have business establishments in many states, so they can get their vehicles registered in that state which offers lower taxes. Also, many interstate haulage companies ply trucks which are registered in states with lower taxes and easier formalities.

I have permanent business address in Puducherry and used to get many vehicles registered there. Even in Tamil Nadu, I hear the tax rate has been revised to 15%. Kerala has 8% rate. Just do your math for a 50L car, and it all starts to make sense.

Uptil recently, all of us at Chandigarh paid Road Tax on the basis of seating capacity of the vehicle. For example, a 5 seater car owner would pay Rs 2500 as life time road tax. So, as a result, a BMW 7 and an Indica were charged the same rates.

From this month onwards or probably from the next month, a new policy has come into effect where we pay rates varying from 2 to 4 % depending upon the cost of the vehicle. I guess, this is still one of the lowest in the country.

Don't the cops cause a problem for CH registered cars plying on MH roads?

Chandigarh until now had a very very low Road tax of around Rs.2600 for passenger cars seating upto 5, In comparison getting the same car registered in Mumbai means paying additional lakhs of Rupees. Similarly Haryana too had just 1.5% Road tax charges for cars costing above 10 Lakh Rupees till last month(Now hiked). Plus Maharastra also charged additional fees for imported cars, which was cancelled yesterday by Bombay High Court.

On the contrary , i have been noticing quite a few MH registered luxury vehicles in Delhi including sports bikes since last year .

Let me add a bit. I also hear that corporates can register cars in their parent state and move with them anywhere, and the cops can sing for it! I have heard of someone who registered his company in UP to avoid the high taxes in Mumbai.

Chandigarh and Haryana both have changed their tax slab for car registration recently and the cars are no longer cheaper here. Gone are the days when you could get a 50 lakh car registered for 2500 odd rs. The new rates are 2% upto 6 lakhs , 3 % between 6 and 20 lakhs and 4 % above 20 lakhs

Yes they do. But as you know, it's only unconnected fools like us who will bear the brunt of these swoops. For example when I moved from Mumbai t Bangalore with my <2yr old Accent many moons ago, the RTO guys caught me and made me pay 47,000+ on the spot or they threatened to impound my vehicle and what not. This is what pisses me off- we pay the full amount mandated and these guys with connections get away scot free. :Frustrati

You do know that a car can run in whichever state for upto 6 months without switching to that state?

Yes but only if you can prove that you are a visitor to the state and have every intention of returning. In my case they caught me as I was leaving my office parking lot, with my ID hanging from my neck and I never contested that I had actually moved to Karanataka and had every intention of paying the road tax within 6 months. They said, fine but pay it now, or we impound your vehicle. :Shockked: