Saar: Among others, one of the pluses is that it will make registering a vehicle in one state and driving in another meaningless.

At the end of a two-day meeting, which was held in Guwahati, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Transport unanimously voted in favour of a uniform structure of road tax for vehicles across states. Not only will it render registering a vehicle in one state and driving in another meaningless, but also bring much-needed simplification to cases requiring the transfer of vehicles from one person to another or from one state to another.

During the meeting, it was observed that each state has its own ways to calculate the road tax applicable to each vehicle. This is the reason why there is no harmony in tax calculations amongst the states. To bring every state on the same page, the central government can step in.

According to a report published by ET Auto, Yoonus Khan, minister of transport, Rajasthan state, said:

“The group recommends that the motor vehicle taxes should be charged by all the states on the basis of invoice price of the vehicles,” he said, adding that the group also recommends that the rates of road tax across the states be harmonized.”

If the road tax gets calculated based on the formula proposed by Khan and co, things will become easier for manufacturers and the state governments. What’s more, a level of transparency will come in for the end consumer too. A 15-member committee has been designated to study and submit a report in this regard within a fortnight’s time. If this goes through, cars will become cheaper in some states and dearer in others. For instance, Delhi could see a hike in on-road prices whereas metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata could see a drop. Needless to say, it will surely help simplify the process of transfer of ownership as well as registration transfer from one state to the other.

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