Nagpur RTO blacklists 23 luxury cars over suspected road tax evasion

The Nagpur Regional Transport Office (RTO) has blacklisted 23 luxury vehicles on suspicion that their owners avoided paying Maharashtra's motor vehicle tax. E-challans have also been issued against all of them. The vehicles were bought in Nagpur but registered in other states or Union Territories. It is alleged this was done to avoid paying higher road tax in Maharashtra.

Kiran Bidkar, Regional Transport Officer, Nagpur City, said the vehicles have been blacklisted to stop further paperwork relating to them until the inquiry is complete.

The RTO is now examining service histories from authorised manufacturer service centres, FASTag transaction records, insurance papers and Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. These will be used to establish how and where the vehicles were actually being driven. A tax demand will be issued only after that.

The preliminary inquiry found that the vehicles were bought in Nagpur and registered in places such as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Chandigarh and Punjab, where road tax rates may be lower. The suspicion is that the vehicles are mostly driven in Maharashtra, yet were registered outside the state. The RTO is examining whether these registrations and the subsequent use of the vehicles violated motor vehicle tax and registration rules.

Under Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a vehicle kept in another state for more than 12 months must generally obtain a new registration mark in that state. This is subject to the applicable provisions.

According to Bidkar, there is a considerable difference between Maharashtra's motor vehicle tax rates and those of some other areas. The RTO said Maharashtra levies 13 per cent on petrol cars registered in an individual's name, 15 per cent on diesel cars registered in an individual's name, and 20 per cent on imported vehicles and cars registered in the name of a company or corporate. The rate depends on the category of the vehicle and the relevant tax provisions. The difference in rates is one of the factors being examined in the inquiry.

In one case, a Nagpur RTO team stopped a newly bought BMW X1 M Sport near Deekshabhoomi and issued an e-challan as part of the action. The case is part of the larger inquiry into luxury vehicles registered outside Maharashtra that are reported to be running in Nagpur without meeting the state's tax and registration requirements.

The RTO has said that owners found responsible after the inquiry will have to pay the applicable tax arrears. The scrutiny of service records, FASTag data, insurance papers and PUC documents is expected to help officials decide whether Maharashtra tax was avoided. The action against the 23 vehicles is part of a Nagpur RTO drive to examine suspected road tax evasion in luxury cars registered outside the state.