Transport ministers discuss uniformity in tax rates

Transport ministers from northern states met here Tuesday to discuss the possibility of having uniform tax rates in the sector.

Giving details, Haryana minister Krishan Lal Panwar said there was a need for uniform rates to check tax evasion.

"Chances of tax evasion increase when any of the neighbouring states reduces its tax rate, leading to losses to other states. Therefore, there should be uniformity in tax rates related to the transport sector," he said.

The minister said those present during the meeting suggested that the public transport be promoted.

"To make people take advantage of the public transport, it is necessary to reduce passenger tax," he said.

Talking about Haryana, Panwar said the state government had taken an initiative under which 50 per cent of the money received from challans was being spent on road safety.

Replying to a query on road safety, he said CCTV cameras had been installed on state highways in the state.

Speed governors were being installed in buses, he said, adding that principals of schools and colleges had been authorised to issue a learning "licences" to students in their institutions.

Representatives from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir attended the meeting, said an official release.

The ministers who participated in the meeting were Swatantra Dev Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Razia Sultana (Punjab), Govind Singh Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) and Kailash Gehlot (Delhi).