Bangalore RTO Jt Commissioner Warns Out-Of-State Car Owners: Pay Up Or Face Seizure!
Recent news reports from Karnataka showed how the authorities issued fines to owners of various vehicles with ‘non-Karnataka’ registration plates plying in the state, and asked for an immediate payment of road tax. KT Halaswamy, the current Assistant Commissioner of Transport (ACT), Enforcement Bangalore (North), recently made a bold statement, asking ‘Non-Karnataka’ car owners to pay up the required road tax immediately, and warning them of possible seizures if they fail to comply. A video of this has now been shared online.
Halaswamy, known to be an upright officer, said that various RTOs in Karnataka have seized over 160 ‘non-Karnataka’ cars so far, for defaulting on the state’s road tax. Over 6 crore rupees have been recovered in unpaid tax from such cases.
The ACT reiterated that all vehicle owners wil have to comply, regardless of how expensive their vehicles are, be it a Fortuner or a Mercedes-Benz, or a Ferrari. Yes, for real! Bengaluru RTO officials had previously seized a Rs 7.5 crore Ferrari SF90 (with MH plates) from the owner’s house, for allegedly evading the state’s road taxes.
Halaswamy then requested people who own ‘non-Karnataka’ vehicles in the state to pay up immediately, and further warned them that these would be seized if they didn’t.
He further made it clear that this applies to everyone who has a Karnataka Aadhaar and other documents and who primarily lives in the state. In such cases, these vehicles will be mainly used on Karnataka roads. In such cases, not paying the required (state) road tax goes against the rules.
The officer then talked about how the owners of some of the cars that were previously seized explained their part, saying they were unaware of the rule. Halaswamy clarified that ignorance of the law is not an excuse to break it. If a car owner has doubts, he says, he/she should visit the nearest RTO and get it clarified.
In the closing remarks, he emphasised that it is wrong to flout laws whatsoever, and further confirmed that the state’s enforcement drive will continue in the upcoming weeks as well. It will, in fact, get stronger, and vehicle owners will have to pay the road tax and any applicable penalty.
This crackdown is based on a discrepancy that exists between the clauses pertaining road tax in the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and those mentioned in Karnataka’s amended Motor Vehicles Taxation Actof 2014.
The former states that vehicles are allowed to stay in another state for up to 11 months with their registration plates. After this period, the owner will have to re-register it in the state where they ply.
The Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2014, on the other hand, mentions that vehicles registered in other states can only stay in Karnataka for 30 days, after which the owner will have to pay the state’s road tax. He/she will be fined for not doing so.
The Karnataka RTO’s enforcement drive is based on this rule. RTO officials, together with police, now stop and inspect all non-Karnataka-registered vehicles in many places.
They reportedly check for previous fines on these vehicles as well. Overstaying the new registration grace period will attract additional fines. Failing to pay these will lead to the vehicles getting seized.
According to reports, even vehicles from neighbouring states aren’t being spared. The only exemptions are reported to be TN-70 (Hosur) and AP-39 (Gajuwaka), as these places share clear borders with the state.