Finally ….
Finally court agreed “in-principle” that it makes some sense
to pay only for the Masala Dosa we “ate” (read that story here).
But are we done? Not yet; IMO.
In fact we are an inch close to our target.
Well, what’s your target?!
Oh yea, for the new readers, it’s “ONE INDIA ONE TAX”
Sounds great; can you explain it in a sentence?
Sure. In our country, one should have freedom to drive their
vehicle in any state for any duration by paying life time tax (15 years) only
once.
Hmm, it make sense. But I was told that the 1988 Motor
vehicle act is somewhat similar to what you say.
Similar? May be, but not same. That’s the problem.
According to 1988 act, one can ply vehicle in any state for 11 months after which they have to re-register the vehicle in new state where it’s used. Here the catch is, rule is instructing the owner ONLY to re-register and not asking to pay the lump sum; but at the same time it says the re-registration in new state is subjected the rules of the state. So in the rule book of states, they clearly mentioned, one has to pay the LTT again to register the vehicle in their state and the owner can ask for refund from previous state.
Well, we all know how Govt offices work in our country and
how easy it is to get refund.
So, what’s your stand on this?
1988 act, a 28 year old law, has its own disadvantages and
it’s time to reread them. According to current trend, migration to a new state
is very swift and our law should be able to handle it.
Can you brief the changes you envision?
It should happen someway like the following:
When a citizen buy a vehicle from State ‘A’ , let the state Govt collect tax for 15 years (as it is now) as per their tax slab. When the citizen moves from state ‘A’ to ‘B’, the individual will update the same in central Govt’s portal. Say this is happening after 2 years, state ‘A’ should calculate the tax amount they actually deserve for 2 years and transfer the rest of the amount to state ‘B’. Repeat the same when citizen moves from ‘B’ to ‘C’. When the tax amount becomes 0, say in 13 years due to the difference in tax % charges by different states, we will have an option to top-up the tax for next 2 years. With this method, respective states will have the tax amount they deserve.
Why a central Govt portal is required for this? Can’t we
simply change the address in RC book as per the law available now?
No. we need central Govt portal because:
- Greedy state Govt’s may not exchange the actual data
- Existing law demands, address proof in new place when we switch. It is conveniently forgetting the fact that, one can use any vehicle which may be in their parent/sibling/friend’s name, just like mobile phone. So citizens will be FORCED to create fake proofs. Let’s be realistic.
- In addition, to change address, we need NOC from financier, which most of the banks won’t give, even though the person who took loan is still staying in same place.
- Cash exchange between states can happen under the supervision of central Govt with deadlines.
Alright; to avoid the topup complexity why can’t we have
flat % for all states?
It will be an injustice to most of the states; compare
states Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to Goa or Pondicherry; how can we ask them
to pay same amount of tax to drive within their state?
OK, before we conclude
this conversation, you repeated the word “WE” in many places, who all are the
“WE” here?
We means all Indian citizen who is affected.
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