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