[jailbird_fynix]

The road transport ministry has proposed to hike the registration and renewal fee of conventional vehicles by more than 20 times.

On the contrary, it has already notified a draft proposal to do away with the registration fee of electric vehicles. The aim is to discourage people from buying conventional vehicles and to promote zero-emission vehicles.

Currently, the charges are Rs 600 for both fresh registration and renewal. Soon, we may have to pay Rs 5,000 for registration of a new petrol or diesel car apart from Rs 10,000 for renewal of registration. For two-wheelers, the new registration fee will be Rs 1,000
against the current Rs 50; renewal charges will be Rs 2,000. In the case of cabs, the registration fee and renewal charges will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000, up from the current Rs 1,000. The draft notification also proposes to hike the registration fee of imported vehicles from Rs 5,000 to Rs 40,000.



It has also proposed frequent fitness tests of commercial petrol and diesel vehicles. In the case of commercial vehicles more than 15 years old, tests are to be done twice a year. As per the proposal, an additional fee of Rs 50 will be charged for each day, if the owners of more than 15-year-old vehicles fail to get fresh fitness certificate before they expire. The Ministry has also proposed that buyers would not have to pay registration fees for new vehicles if they present a scrapping certificate.

Source : ET Auto, TOI, Business Line

[Sherlocked]

Wow! What luck for me!
My WagonR is due for renewal in December 2019. I had contacted an agent and he had quoted me approx 2000. And now this news comes.
Looks like it will cause an additional 15k hit to my wallet.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

Wow! What luck for me!
My WagonR is due for renewel in December 2019. I had contacted an agent and he had quoted my approx 2000. And now this news comes.
Looks like it will cause an additional 15k hit to my wallet.

I think you can apply for renewal two months before the actual expiry date. Accordingly, apply in October and you probably won't have to pay the new fees, because they may not even be approved or implemented by then. Also, try doing it on your own if you can. I had applied for my car's renewal in mid-March '19 by myself (expiry was in mid-April). I paid Rs. 690 for the entire process. There's an additional fee of Rs. 520 for HSRPs if your car doesn't have them already.

[tj123]

A very badly timed move when the auto industry is facing de growth such ill planned move is like rubbing salt on wound. Without electric infrastructure and proper electric vehicles what does the government want the people to do ? They are just extorting money in name of electrification/pollution.
Value of second hand cars are go to tank and without a proper scrappage policy what are we going to achieve? Such adhoc moves will further slow down and spoil the consumer sentiment resulting in job losses and its going to have a big ripple effect across the economy.

[anjan_c2007]

Its a hare-brained move that will kill all the older owned cars and two wheelers owned by different categories of private individuals. Many such older vehicles are owned by the poorer classes and also by retired persons. As such, many of the economic weaker sections hardly get the mandatory fitness certificates and it's hardly of any botheration for such people. The axe falls on the law abiding ones !

With the electric rush and the extraordinary hurry by the powers-that-be, the switch-over has been put on overdrive without any thought, word and deed as far as the infrastructure is concerned. What is the alternative that the buyer gets ? For electrics the budget cars available presently are E2O for some Rs 10 L and the ageing Verito for a higher amount. And for 2 wheelers the oddball Chinese ones ?

[fiestarry]

I don't see this move as a problem at all. The Govt is generating a bit of revenue from the automobile buyers. A few thousand rupees are suddenly a huge burden on a car / SUV buyer ? And this increase will bring the already struggling auto industry to its knees ? I don't know what the issue is really ?

[2cents]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

I don't see this move as a problem at all. The Govt is generating a bit of revenue from the automobile buyers. A few thousand rupees are suddenly a huge burden on a car / SUV buyer ?.....

Precisely, and that's why it's troubling. All it screams is 'give me your money'. Although it will definitely hurt taxi's and goods carriers big time, a new car buyer may not even notice it. But therein lies the problem. These charges are meant for a service. What exactly justifies a 20 fold increase overnight? The principle of 'govt generates a bit of a revenue' is a dangerous anti thesis to accountability. If we start justifying, then why should they stop with 20 fold?

[porsche_guy]

20 folds!

I really think we BHPians should gather and register an RTI application to know where so much tax has actually gone when the roads are getting worse and get washed out every monsoon.

[jailbird_fynix]

Originally Posted by jailbird_fynix

The Ministry has also proposed that buyers would not have to pay registration fees for new vehicles if they present a scrapping certificate.

Quoting from this Financial Express article -

Unfortunately, the scrap certificate-based registration fee exemption will only be valid if its done from an government-authorised centre. Moreover, at present, there is only one government-authorised scrapyard. It has been built in association with Mahindra and is called CERO. Currently, the facility is available only in Delhi-NCR while in the future, other states too will get separate centres.

Another bit that is a bit worrisome is that if you scrap your old Maruti 800, you're liable to only get an exemption on another new Maruti 800 or perhaps a Nano. The proposed documents line hint at the same; "the newly purchased Motor Vehicles of the categories given at sr. no. 4 of the below mentioned TABLE shall be exempted for the payment of fees for the purpose of issue of registration certificate and assignment of new registration mark subject to condition that motor vehicle is presented for the registration along with the scrapping certificate of the previously owned vehicle of same category."

[anjan_c2007]

In fact, the Madras High Court in April 2017 by its judgment in W.P.NOs.1598, 1067, 2117, 3519, 4939 of 2017 and W.M.P.Nos.1561, 1023, 2083, 3534 and 5170 of 2017, quashed the irrational penalties levied by the Union Transport Ministry wef December 2016.

These were leviable in cases of delay in obtaining fitness certificate tests, driving licence renewal delay and so on, saying that the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 empowers the Union Ministry to levy fees and not penalties on such fees as per the Act. The Court observed that :-

"The main contention of the petitioners is that the additional fee sought to be levied is without the authority of law in so far as the existing provisions of the Act and the Rules provide only for the levy of a fee and nothing beyond. We agree with this submission. A perusal of the provisions of
section 22 would indicate clearly that the Act contemplates only the
levy of a fee in return for services rendered by the authorities.
Nowhere is there sanction for any levy over and above the fee. "

It also observed that vis a vis the additional fee in the nature of penalty, there is no change in the nature of service rendered by the authority under the Act:-

We fail to see any justification for the levy of an additional fee in the nature of the penalty when there is no change in the nature of service rendered by the authority under the Act particularly in the absence of any statutory backing for the same. The purpose, as is apparent from the recommendation of the committee is the fond hope that such levy would act as a deterrent for non-compliance of various provisions. Such noncompliance is however, a matter to be addressed using such powers as have been extended to the authorities. The Motor Vehicles Act and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules at present, only contain a provision authorizing the levy of a fee and nothing more.

The presently proposed hikes are also liable to be challenged as being unjust, disproportionately very high, extremely deterring and leading owners of motor vehicles to non compliance and so on. The provisions of Article 19 (1) (g) and Article 21 of the Constitution are also applicable.

[Midas]

I don't think this will have any impact on new car buyers. Rs.5000 is nothing compared to total price of car.

Govt has increased tax , duty etc. on cigarettes & liquor and increases their price a lot. But, I don't think that has discouraged many people to use them. Compared to those, this 20x hike is not significant of you look at absolute numbers.

Even though advertised intentions are good, I don't think this is the right way to make those happen.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by Midas

Govt has increased tax , duty etc. on cigarettes & liquor and increases their price a lot. But, I don't think that has discouraged many people to use them. Compared to those, this 20x hike is not significant of you look at absolute numbers.

I think we should read it this way. People will anyway will not stop buying ‘this’ even if tax is increased, so advertise it as ‘saving environment’ and gain more taxes. They have implemented it very well with fuel price, applying the same at other places too. And with the current scenario in India, anything the govt. does is always right. Want to question?? No I am not coming with you to moon

[Chhanda Das]

Originally Posted by porsche_guy

20 folds!

I really think we BHPians should gather and register an RTI application to know where so much tax has actually gone when the roads are getting worse and get washed out every monsoon.

Sadly, RTI isn't going to be of much use soon as it has been vastly diluted

[sgiitk]

Looks like a backhanded way of banning older vehicles. Unfortunately, our testing system is a joke. However, failure to implement is and 'fining' everybody is not fair. Sometimes we try and use a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

[theexperthand]

Any idea how much the fitness test costs? It will be a pain to get 2 fitness tests done in a year for vehicles which are older than 15 years of age.

I hope the tax structure will be still LTT for 15 years and then renewal plus tax for 5-year increments.

--Anoop