Lesser road tax structure contributes tohike in revenue

Revenue and Transport Minister M O H F Shah Jahan today said that vehicle registration was in strict accordance with provisions of Motor Vehicles Act in Puducherry.
Whoever fulfilling the statutory condition for proof of residential address here and seeks to register their vehicles cannot be denied registration of vehicles.
Brushing aside as "baseless and ill founded" the reports in a section of the media that there had been "irregularity in registration of vehicles owned by those from outside Puducherry, Shah Jahan said that the union territory had been traditionallypreferred for registration of vehicles by most of the industrialists and a large number of people from other states.

"Such flow of persons from other pockets for registering the vehicles here has been seen for years together and hence the allegation that such registration was depriving other states of their revenue is ill founded", he said in a release.
A person getting his vehicle registered here and is using it in another State will be bound by the rules of road tax adopted in that states after a certain period.
If there is default on the part of the owner to pay the tax of that state the concerned government initiates action under the relevant penal law.

He said that Puducherry government has also been providing details whenever the concerned State government seeks them for any vehicles registered here and are being used in that state, he said.

Puducherry transport department has been netting increase in revenue every year through road and other taxes.
Shah Jahan said that the revenue under road tax and other heads was Rs 51.8 crore in 2013-2014.
The tax revenue shot up to Rs 58.1 crore in the fiscal 2014-2015. The department netted Rs Rs 60 crore in 2015-2016 while it rose to Rs 86.8 crore in the following year.
During the current fiscal, the department has earned so far Rs 65 crore and is set to earn Rs 100 croreat the end of the current year if the present trend continues.
With the purchasers of vehicles making a beeline to Puducherry to get advantages in tax structure for registration of the vehicles after fulfilling all the statutory conditions and by presenting relevant documents there is no no room for any allegation that there are irregularities in registration.

"Such fictitious allegations would only tarnish the image of Puducherry and will strike at the earning of revenue for the government which is already reeling under serious fiscal crisis. Any decline in revenue would cripple implementation of welfare schemes for the underprivileged and weaker sections", he said.