Hyderabad: ‘Drive without borders’, is a 20,000 member-strong group of motorists leading a nationwide movement against RTA of different states. They have taken up the issue of Telangana government asking for non-AP and TS vehicles to pay a lifetime tax within 30 days of landing in the state. The TS road transport authority officials look at every non-AP/TS vehicle with suspicion and are on a hunting spree. The group is demanding that the 30-day rule to be taken back. The group is also campaigning for ‘One nation, one road tax’ concept so that the people do not have to pay the hefty lifetime tax ranging from 14 to 23 percent of the cost of vehicle.
The group founder Waseem Memon said, “Now that the TS RTA has issued a government order mandating all vehicles from other states to pay the lifetime tax within a month. When a person has paid a lifetime tax while buying a vehicle, it should be applicable for a lifetime. Why can’t the RTAs of different states co-ordinate like the provident fund, income tax and central excise?. If a person moves to three to four states, each time he or she will have to pay a lump sum amount as life tax even after paying it at the time of buying. This is wrong.”
The issue started with the Karnataka government in February last year, amending the Motor Vehicle Taxation (known as Karnataka motor vehicles taxation (Amendment) Act 2014. The Act says “Any vehicle plying continuously in Karnataka for more than 30 days needs to pay the hefty Life Time Tax levied by the Government of Karnataka.” The Centr-al Motor Vehicles rules say that any motor vehicle plying continuously in any other state needs to be registered in 11 months.
“Gurgaon traffic department passed the same in November 2014 and wanted non-Haryana registered cars to register their cars within one month of arrival. Kerala has followed suit in March 2015 and wants non-Kerala vehicles to pay road tax upon one month of arrival. Now it is the TS which wants to do the same, despite in the first two cases the HC giving a stay,” he added.
