Officials claim they have been incurring losses ever since the Local Body Tax was implemented on April 1, as motorists are getting vehicles registered in Panvel and Mumbai due to the lower cost of registration there
After petrol pump owners in areas governed by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation bore its brunt, the regional transport office (RTO) seems to be the latest victim of supposed unequal implementation of the local body tax (LBT) in the region.
ADVERTISEMENT
Officials requesting anonymity said vehicle registration accounted for 70 per cent to 75 per cent of RTO revenue before the implementation of the LBT. But the number of vehicles registered in Navi Mumbai has dropped sharply ever since the LBT was implement in the region on April 1. They said with motorists preferred to get registration done either from Panvel or Mumbai, where the charges for registration are much cheaper, in comparison to Navi Mumbai, despite implementation of the LBT.
Though the cause for the dwindling has been identified, Regional Transport Officer Sanjay Dhaygude said RTO officials were running out of ideas to recover losses the transport body has suffered since implementation of the LBT.
“The revenue collected via registration of new vehicles -- domestic and imported -- was the major source of income for the RTO. But the LBT has cost us dearly and chances of recovering the lost amount appear very slim,” Dhaygude said.
He added that if the registrations failed to pick up in the coming months, it would be a major setback for the RTO. Officials said though the RTO was working out ways to recover the lost amount, the revenue collections would plummet further if the state failed to reduce the LBT in the coming months. u00a0
Dipping point
Compared to vehicle registrations in April- Sep 2012, numbers for the same period this year have dipped by 27% for light motor vehicles (LMV) and by 4% for motorcycles.u00a0
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
