Hill taxi owners stare at road tax penalty -State govt had earlier stated that validity of vehicle papers would remain valid till June 30 even if the owners did not pay

Vivek Chhetri   |   TT   |   Darjeeling   |   11.07.20   :  Taxi owners, many of whom rely entirely on ferrying tourists, have not earned a penny in the past three months but some have paid 100 percent penalty on road taxes.

Commercial vehicles like Tata Sumo and Innova pay an annual road tax ranging from Rs 8,800 to Rs 15,000. They have an option of paying the tax quarterly and half-annually, too.

“I pay a quarterly road tax of around Rs 3,600 but I ended up shelling out double the amount at a time when my earning in the past three months was zero,” said a hill driver.

There are around 10,000 commercial vehicles in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) area.

Administrative sources have said road taxes are governed by the West Bengal Additional Tax and One-time Tax on Motor Vehicles Act, 1989.

The state government had issued an order on March 31, stating that the validity of vehicle papers would remain valid till June 30 even if road taxes were not paid.

Also, before the lockdown, the state government had introduced a onetime “waiver scheme” which had provisions for 100 per cent waiver on penalties till March 31, 2020. This one-time scheme was subsequently extended till June 30, 2020.

The problem, however, lies in the fact that many didn’t avail themselves of the one-time waiver scheme which was valid till June 30 because of lockdown-related problems and dip in income.

“Now a person whose road tax, say for example, had expired in the last week of March and did not avail himself of the one-time waiver scheme has to pay penalties running up to 100 per cent of the tax,” said a source in the administration.

Vehicle owners are provided with a grace period of 15 days to pay the road tax from the date of expiry following which the penalties increase by 25 per cent (till 45 day), 50 per cent (until 75 days) and 100 per cent beyond 75 days.

Vehicle owners who are now going to pay the taxes are asked to pay penalties.

The amount is generated through software.

“Yes, the software is asking people to pay penalties,” said a source. The drivers, however, said  they were finding it difficult to pay enhanced taxes in the absence of income.

Unlike in the plains, many taxis in the hills rely predominantly on tourists for their survival.

The Gorkha National Liberation Front was the first to raise the issue followed by Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, who has accused the state government of being insensitive.

Bista’s tirade was directed at the state government as the Centre also fixes “fees” like driving license fee, fitness certificate fees, etc, under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989.

However, the ministry of road transport and highways has over a period of time; the last was on June 9, issued notifications extending the validity of such documents till September 30, 2020.

Anit Thapa, chairman, board of administrators, GTA, said he had also requested the state government “not only to waive the penalty” but also provide “rebate” on road tax.