Karnataka RTO Collects Rs. 40 Crore Road Tax, Seizes 244 Out-Of-State Cars

Just two days ago, it was reported that the Karnataka Transport Department started a crackdown on non-Karnataka registered vehicles. Now, it has been reported that just in the period from March 1 to March 20, the department has managed to collect Rs 40.2 crore. As per the reports, a total of 544 cases were filed, and 244 vehicles were seized by the authorities. This amount was collected from vehicle owners who have not registered their vehicles in Karnataka despite staying for more than 11 months in the state.

Rs 40.2 crore collected from non-Karnataka registered vehicles

According to the reports, the Karnataka Transport Department has managed to recover Rs 40.2 crore in unpaid road taxes and fines from the owners of non-Karnataka registered vehicles. Rs 39.8 crore was recovered from unpaid taxes, while Rs 3.5 lakh was collected from fines that were levied on the owners of cars with other state registrations.

The transport department has highlighted that the highest collection of Rs 11.7 crore in road taxes was from the Electronics City RTO. The second rank was held by Bengaluru East RTO, with a collection of Rs 9.4 crore. Lastly, the KR Puram RTO collected a total of Rs 3.7 crore.

While speaking to a media outlet, Transport Commissioner A.M. Yogeesh stated:

Initially, we targeted high-end vehicles, but later all vehicles were covered in the enforcement drive. The majority of these vehicles are registered in Union Territories like Delhi, Puducherry, and Daman & Diu, as well as other states.

Why is the Karnataka Transport Department collecting road tax from these car owners?

As mentioned above, the Transport Department of Karnataka is targeting cars that do not have a Karnataka registration. They are able to do so because, according to the Motor Vehicles Act, a vehicle from another state can only stay in Karnataka for up to 11 months, after which the owners of such vehicles have to pay the complete registration tax of the state.

What's more interesting is that despite this central government rule, the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2014, states that this same process has to be completed in only 30 days. This means that once a non-Karnataka registered vehicle enters the state, it has to be registered in Karnataka with the complete registration tax paid just after the 30-day period expires.

This has resulted in strict enforcement by the Karnataka Transport Department, which has caused many owners to pay the road tax. It was reported that officials were checking for violations in such non-Karnataka registered vehicles, and if they were found to be older than 11 months, they were immediately fined and asked to pay the tax. If the owners failed to pay the complete road tax, their vehicles were seized.

Recently, a video went viral on the internet in which several Karnataka Transport Department officials were seen handing out fines to such vehicle owners. Currently, vehicles from Tamil Nadu (TN-70) and Andhra Pradesh (AP-39) are not being fined, as these regions are at the borders.

As a result, vehicles frequently enter and exit Karnataka, so they are not being targeted by the authorities. Now, whether this crackdown will stop soon or not has not been reported. However, as a result of this, many owners of such vehicles are now not taking their vehicles out on the roads to avoid hefty fines and paying road tax immediately.