The transport department of Uttarakhand appears to be on track to achieve the target of tax collection in this financial year. The departmental data shows that against a targeted collection of Rs360 crore, the collections till end of January stood at Rs331 crore.
The department has collected Rs244.4 crore from the registration tax of the vehicles this year, under this head the collection till January last year was Rs230 crore. The department officials are claiming that the tax which constitutes a lion’s share among the kitty of department could increase by a healthy 7 per cent this year.
For private vehicles which cost less than Rs10 lakh, the department levies a registration tax which is 4 per cent of the cost of the vehicle. For vehicles costlier than Rs10 lakh the rate of tax is 5 per cent. The increase in the registration tax kitty rode on an increase in number of new vehicles. The people of State purchased 1.72 lakh vehicles till January this year against 1.52 lakh vehicles till the corresponding period last year.
The data also shows that the affinity for cars for the people of the State has increased from 27,000 numbers last year to 30,000 this year. The collection of green cess has increased to Rs9.98 crores this year. The department charges one time cess of Rs400 for two wheelers and Rs1,200 for the four wheelers. The contribution of central pool in the tax collections of the State also showed a marginal increase as Rs35.43 crore were collected against Rs34.44 crore last year under this head. The State receives Rs400 per heavy vehicle granted National Permit from the Central Government.
The department also got a hefty 114 per cent increase in the on line tax receipts, the collections of online tax stood at Rs5.62 crore till January this year which was only Rs2.6 crore till corresponding period last year. When contacted the Assistant Transport Commissioner RK Mehra sounded confident of achieving targeted figures of tax collection in this financial year.