The campaign against Dual Lifetime Tax

In Karnataka, some vehicle owners have launched an unusual online protest

On 18 July, transport authorities in Karnataka seized 250 cars in a drive around Electronics City, an area that houses a large number of infotech companies. The crime? The vehicles were registered in other states. The drive netted a life- time tax amounting to Rs 1 crore. Encouraged by this, the authorities have started barging into apartment complexes, even on Sundays, to seize vehicles with such registration plates. The one-time tax for a two-wheeler can be as high as Rs 5,000 and for a car as much as Rs 1.5 lakh.

Perturbed by this, Waseem Memon, a techie with a jeep registered in Andhra Pradesh, posted a query on the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ Facebook page about the legality of the crackdown. The reply was that the move went against the spirit of decisions taken at a meeting of the Transport Department Council in October last year. “It had taken a decision that no lifetime tax should be levied on vehicles plying in another state for a period of three months. A non-Karnataka registered vehicle could thus be used in this state for 90 days, and non-Karnataka vehicles plying in the state that are more than two years old need not pay lifetime tax,” he says.

But the state transport department is not convinced and cites an amendment this January to the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation Act which makes it mandatory for owners of non-Karnataka vehicles to pay lifetime tax in the state if the vehicle is used for more than 30 days.

Memon made his finding public by starting a Facebook page ‘Justice for Non-KA Registration Owners’ and it already has 3,273 members.

Likewise, an online petition on Change.org has sought ‘rationalisation of road tax or allow paying annual road tax for non KA registered vehicles.’ It has more than 3,000 signatories and the group plans to submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee.

About The Author

Anil Budur Lulla