Special drive against vehicles registered in Pondicherry soon: RTO

MANGALURU: Increasing number of vehicles with PY (Pondicherry) registration has prompted RTO in Mangaluru to act tough against vehicle owners, who have violated rules of taxation. It has become a routine in Mangaluru and other parts of the city for owners of the high end cars to register their vehicles in Pondicherry to save huge amount. They save huge amount to the tune of 30% in life tax by registering vehicles in Pondicherry. Owner of a high end car of Rs 4 crore will have to pay nearly Rs 80 lakh as life time tax in Karnataka. Whereas, the amount of life time tax payable is only up to Rs 56 lakh if the vehicle is registered in Pondicherry. In fact, it is a violation of Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act 2014. Hence, the Mangaluru RTO will soon commence a special drive to find such vehicles and act as per rules. RTO G S Hegde told TOI that his office has received several complaints from public pointing out violation on part of vehicle owners, who register vehicles in Pondicherry and use it in Mangaluru. "We have issued a notice directing all vehicles registered in Pondicherry and are being plied in Mangaluru to pay the life time tax in Mangaluru RTO office. We will soon launch a special drive through teams involving vehicle inspectors to intercept and seize those vehicles," Hegde said. The Government of India has a proposal to implement a uniform taxation policy. However, at present, the tax slabs are different in various states in India, he said. "We have noticed many high end cars registered in Pondicherry is being plied in the city. Most of them have registered their high end cars in Pondicherry using temporary address proof. We have been observing such vehicles and action will be taken if they do not pay life time tax here voluntarily," he said and added that implementation of uniform taxation will solve the issue. -TOI