In a slew of radical economic and socio-cultural changes, the Government has come up with a plan that states that the cost to renew an older vehicle’s registration certificate shall be increased by October.
This development comes at a time when the government introduced its vehicle scrapping policy in this year’s Union Budget. The draft notification states that the cost for renewal of the RC and fitness certificate of vehicles older than 15 years shall be increased.
The notification has yet to see the light of day, however, the Union Road and Transportation Ministry look forward to having it passed according to the Central Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Rules, 2021.
According to the new framework, cars older than 15 years shall be charged 5,000 INR for the renewal or issuance of the RC, resulting in its increase tenfolds.
On the other hand, motorcycles and other two-wheelers shall be charged 1000 INR as opposed to the previous 300 INR. Imported vehicles, older than 15 years, shall be charged 40,000 INR according to the new development.
What Does The New Development State?
Leaving alone the arrears of registration certificates, it must be noted that the new rules also pertain to the issuance and renewal of fitness certificates for moderate goods and passenger motor vehicles. The issuance and renewal have been slated at a cost of 10,000 INR.
15-year-old heavy goods and large passenger motor vehicles shall be charged an amount of 12,500 INR for renewal. And, for taxis, the rate is likely to go up to 7,000 INR whereas for three-wheelers and quadricycles the rate is slated to go up to 3500 INR.
The Road Ministry has also increased the penalty for the delay of renewal of vehicles older than 15 years. According to the proposal, a private vehicle shall attract an amount of 300 to 500 INR per month if they fail to renew its registration upon its expiry.
For commercial vehicles, the amount has been fixed at 50 INR if they fail to renew the fitness certificate before the expiration date.
The Ministry has also stated that to support the vehicle scrapping policy, government-registered scrapping centres shall be set up according to draft norms.
These centres shall help a vehicle owner to take their old vehicle to any scrapping centre across the country and have it scrapped. The issuance of the scrapping certificate shall thus enable the owner to produce it at any vehicle showroom to guarantee incentive(s) while purchasing a newer vehicle.
Also Read: Fitness Test For Vehicles: Why We Should Prepare For A Vehicle Scrapping Policy Soon
However, the scrapping centre will have to verify the ownership of the vehicle by the owner before issuing the scrapping certificate.
How Will This New Proposal Help In Tackling Pollution?
According to the Ministry, it believes that the new development will discourage vehicle owners from availing their old car or motorbike and thus, would opt for the voluntary vehicle scrapping policy by default.
Old vehicles are estimated to cause about 10-12 times more pollution than the latest vehicles which thus, cause the most amount of pollution among their ilk. This supports the government’s statement of introducing the green tax.
The government had stated earlier that it looks forward to introducing the green tax upon older, more polluting vehicles while exempting strong hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles alongside vehicles that run on LPG, CNG and ethanol. The revenue collected through taxation would thus be used to tackle pollution and effectively tackle a source of pollutants as well.
The new scheme may include the taxation of vehicles older than 8 years a green tax of 10-25 percent of the road tax.
This development, if passed, shall be welcomed with wide, embracing arms especially after the inclusion of 22 major Indian cities in the list of 30 most polluted cities.
However, coming from a government that still uses older Ambassadors to travel from point A to point B, this scheme is a bit high-handed, to say the least.
Do away with the Ambassadors and we shall follow.
Image Source: Google Images
Sources: Business Today, Times of India,
Connect with the blogger: @kushan257
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