19 April,2011 08:25 AM IST | | Sanjeev Devasia and Bipin Singh
Mumbaikars will now find it difficult to register new cars from outside the city limits, as Andheri RTO reins in tax evaders; collects Rs 302 crore as registration costs
Buyers of factory fresh cars, who have been getting their vehicles registered from outside Mumbai to evade a 4.5 per cent Octroi tax by showing that they reside out of the city limits, have found the going tough this time, courtesy an alert RTO. The Andheri RTO managed to ramp up its revenue by more than 50 per cent this fiscal by just tightening the procedure of car registration. Last year, they had earned a revenue of Rs 193 crore through the process.
Car-nama: Last year, the Andheri RTO had earned a revenue of Rs 193
crore by tightening the procedure of car registration. representation pic
The RTO has collected Rs 302 crore as one time road tax from registration of new vehicles by simply asking for more documents from the owners such as address proof and voters ID, rent agreement and passport for temporary registration.
"By tightening the procedure, we managed to ensure that people do not go outside Mumbai to register their vehicles and instead do it here. Earlier, people used to come to us for temporary registration of their cars and later they would register them permanently at RTOs outside Mumbai to evade the Octroi tax.
Now, we ask for several proofs before doing temporary registration. Earlier, they used to get away by producing one document showing them as outsiders, but now they have to give several papers such as ID proof and driving licence and residence proof, showing that they hail from outside Mumbai. We issue temporary licence to them only after proper scrutiny of papers. This tedious process has discouraged many tax evaders from getting their vehicles registered from outside the city," said Bharat Kalaskar, deputy RTO at the Andheri RTO.
"When we ask applicants for residence proof, they generally don't fake it. Because they know if they show that their permanent address is of outside Mumbai limits, they will be debarred from the benefits they enjoy as Mumbai residents. So, there is a rise in the number of vehicle registration here and also tax generated by the RTO," Kalaskar said.
Total number of vehicles registered in Andheri RTOu00a0 2009-10: 63,976 2010-11: 81,879
