Vacation or Picnics in INDIA

I was always envious towards the vacations/picnics of foreigners; specially when I see the beautiful pictures. I was always wondering why we (Indians) not even making attempt towards this as this little glee can make a big difference in our life.

When I say vacation, its not the bachelor trips. It was there since years.
Things are changing now and thanks to technology for that. I understood (may be wrongly) that its lack of infrastructure that prevented many from making suck trips (though they had money to make it) .

In my childhood if we want to make a trip to totally new place where we never been to, the only way out was to check with nearby travels or check availability of known people in that locality for inquiry. then, we have to manage with whatever they provide which am so sure is not the best!

now things changed drastically, we have mobile apps to see the tourist spots across country , guides on Dos and Don'ts, way to reach there, provision to find apt travel plan, pay safely from home, see the place before we plan, contact numbers in case of emergency etc.

But still I feel something is missing!

Making a trip to Wayanad, Kozhikkod, Aleppy, Munnar and Trivandrum (from Kochi) which are all Tier I tourist spots (people from all over globe visit such places) is not what I meant by picnics. we need to develop infrastructure for Tier II and Tier III or even IV places so that vacations will be peaceful and all will get their private spaces. [Like we can have private resorts in Tier I tourist spots which is costly]

We equipped with technology to promote any new place but we do lack in infrastructure. We don't want big investment like acres of private land or big resorts in all places. In my opinion, we need cheap, small but beautiful hangout places for a family and non-drinkers (for alcoholic any place with a bottle will be more than sufficient!).

My thoughts:

1. Kerala has 44 rivers (in paper) , so if you have a land close to any of the river, from where you have awesome view, keep the nature intact and make small seating arrangements and make provision to have food and sanitation. Device safely measures in case if someone want to enter the river.

2. If you have old traditional house with some land, rework on it, convert it into a beautify picnic spot where a family or two can spend a day happily.

3. If you live in a city and there are lot of waste/unused land available with Govt. Call for a society meeting and discuss how can you convert that land into a small tourist spot. Come up with a plan and contact Govt officials and get it done. [don't plan for building construction or similar activities where there are chances to have dispute in future. so govt may not give any permission]

4. Organize art/sports/Performing events in available open houses. Open air- amphi theatres are not only for party meetings and religious programs. use them effectively.

5. Popularize local events/celebrations/interesting programs so that more people can reach-out for a different experience.

In short, Let us NOT fight on our diversities & make money out of it and enjoy life.

Note: This is applicable for all states in India. find-out things related to your tradition, culture and present infrastructure and plan.

Create Opportunities.

Interstate usage of private vehicles

This blog post will list down the issues in present law followed by RTOs in various states and examples how they(RTO officers) manipulate things to trouble common people. 

At the end there are few suggestions, the changes , as citizen , I want to see in Surface Transport ministry which mandates every state in India to follow them religiously. 

Problem statement:


Working class citizen who has transferrable job is undergoing a great pain due to stringent Motor vehicle law. they will have to re-register their vehicle by paying a huge amount  as Road tax (close to 1 Lakh for 2 year Swift/Ritz type car); refund from parent state is a nightmare. 

According to transport ministry rules, anyone who is using a vehicle outside the registered state more than 11 months, they will have to re-register the vehicle in new state (example: a vehicle initially registered in Kerala used in Karnataka more than 11 months..)

When re-registration happens we have to pay Lifetime tax , for 15 years, in new state and get refund from previous state.  I believe this rule is created to 

• collect road tax amount according the usage of the vehicle (in state) & 
• to prevent usage of vehicles which are registered in places like Pondicherry where the road tax % is less (so people register luxury cars in Pondicherry and drive in cities like Bangalore where road tax % is very high)

Karnataka Govt overruled this law with another in Feb 2014; according new Karnataka law, any vehicle which is in Karnataka border more than 30 days (original by central govt is 11 months) must re-register and pay LTT.

Central Govt rule

Karnataka web page (not updated with 30 days rule!)

news in paper that explains the pathetic condition of citizen

This minutes of meeting never became law:  url


Present situation in Bangalore, Karnataka

Karnataka RTO officials are seizing cars that are not KA registration. Owners has to pay LTT to get their vehicle back. 

Even they are stopping and seizing private cars that are in city for vacation. they are deaf to the explanations and proofs produced during the inspection. The tourer has to go to RTO office and explain the same story there to get the vehicle back. In short, it mess up the complete trip mood. 

Proof1: 

proof2: url Car seized


Queries to the authorities


As a responsible citizen, if one decides to pay LTT and get the vehicle re-registered in new state, there are few things that will prevent someone from doing it. 

Most of the citizen would have taken bank loan for car in their parent state. now read the queries to know why it is mission impossible (as per current law)

Q1) what are those documents that are considered as PROOF that can be show, in case if stopped by RTO officers as part of their “NON-KA vehicle seizer drive” if one is visiting the city for a week or two?

Q2) How does a person can bring in his/her car to Karnataka and drive here for 2-3 years if they have an outstanding loan against the vehicle?

Before answering the question 2, please consider the following points:

• Karnataka RTO says to pay LTT if the vehicle is used more than 30 days in city [central government law says its 11 months]
• LTT will not be refunded if the vehicle is not registered in Karnataka (for a 0-2 yr old car of 5L the tax amount will come around 1 Lakh)
• To re-register a vehicle in Karnataka, RTO demands a NOC/consent letter from Bank which they will not give before loan closure.

Q3) how can a person use his/her relatives/friend’s outstation vehicle in city for more than a month? 

(as the owner is not in Bangalore, we can't produce the local addresses proof of owner and since it is for a shorter duration it is not practical to pay hefty  LTT which is not refundable)
[e.g. If I am taking my sister's Kerala registration car to Bangalore when she accompanies her husband to Dubai for his official assignment for an year or two]

These are all valid scenarios and we are not criminals.  we are driving a vehicle that we bought with hard earned money. we are ready to pay road tax to any state as per our usage. but don't loot us with your outdated laws. If you don't have a law that can solve our problems , create one! 

Suggestions:

Few points to be noted:

• The motor vehicle act rules are created in 1988 and live style of citizen changed alot since then
• we have floating population and cosmopolitan lifestyle in major cities like Bangalore who changes city within 2-3 years

1. Introduce non-fundable annual road tax for other state vehicles 
2. Revoke the mandate on re-registration in new state if used for more than 11 months (1 month in case of Karnataka) [anyway the vehicle has some identity as it is registered in some part of India and if needed, for tracking purpose,  state RTO can get a declaration statement about usage plan in new state]
3. Implement the discussion point, flat 6% or more for all vehicles in all states and no additional tax payment in new state if it is registered in another state.
4. Remove the hassle of NOC from financier or make it simple for valid users
5. Accept documents like affidavits or other power of attorney kind of legal documents in place of address proof in new location (needed if the vehicle is registered in spouse/parent/relative's name)

Come on guys, its not rocket science, make the law ligt and close to people and make punishments harder for offences and violations. Let the good citizen have peaceful and pleasant life.

Thanks for your time. Drop your comments and I shall revisit my suggestions if I found its better.  

Cheers!
Kp