Hike in Road Tax in J&K much higher than HP, Haryana
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 2: The hike in the Road Tax at the rate of 9 % (one time) for all type of motor vehicles and 10 % for the Motor Cycles above the cost of Rs 1.5 lakhs, issued by the J&K Transport Department is much higher than the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and even Chandigarh (UT).
Various trade bodies of the State have reacted sharply to the exorbitant tax hike issued by the State Government and said that in Himachal Pradesh the tax is just 2.5 % for vehicles up to 1000 CC and 3 % above 1000 cc engine of the cars; in Haryana it is 5% for the vehicles up to the value of Rs 6 lakhs and 8 % for the vehicles between the price of Rs 6 lakhs to 20 lakhs. In Chandigarh it is 6 % for the vehicles up to the cost of Rs 20 lakhs. 9 % and 10 % one time Road Tax will exert heavy burden on the public and vehicles dealers, they added.
While reacting on the hike, Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) president Rakesh Gupta described this SRO 492 of the Govt dated August 1, 2019 as Anti-people and Anti-business. He urged upon the Governor to pass on urgent necessary directions to the concerned to immediately withdraw this SRO, issued by the Principal Secretary, Transport Department on August I, directing that the tax shall be levied on Motor Vehicles using any public roads in the State of J&K at 9 and 10 percent.
He said this steep hike in one time tax is ultimately going to be paid out of the pockets of a common man and shall ultimately lead to loss of sales further which shall mean collapse of many business houses who have invested heavily mostly through banking institutions. JCCI demanded immediate roll back of this SRO.
PHDCCI Jammu Regional Committee has urged upon the Government to reconsider its decision with regard to hike road tax and electricity duty.
In a meeting of the PHD Chamber held today, it was unanimously resolved to ask the State Government to reconsider its decision for hike in electricity duty from the current 10 % to 15 % with effect from 1st August 2019.
Speaking at the meeting Vikrant Kuthiala, Regional Chairman stated that this hike would impact each and every consumer of the State and was unwarranted and uncalled for in the context of the current economic situation. This hike would adversely impact the industrial sector, the commercial sector, the tourism sector and the households. Tourism & Service sector would be impacted the most as they have already been hit by GST from which they were earlier exempted.
Rakesh Wazir Co-Chairman said that the Tourism sector would be hit by high power cost when it is struggling for its survival and is already impacted by the high rate of GST and low inflow of tourist traffic in the state. Sanjay Aggarwal said that the automobile was already facing a drop in demand as seen in the decline in automobile sales over the past few months. The increase in road tax would further increase the cost of vehicles to consumers and would lead to further reduction in sales.
Rahul Sahai stressed upon the urgency in getting both these decisions reviewed and rolled back before irreparable damage is caused to the various sectors and stakeholders in the state.
J&K Motor Vehicle Dealer Association in a meeting held today took serious note of the Govt SRO 492 pertaining to steep hike in registration charges of Motor vehicles. Pradeep Jain, general secretary of the Association in a meeting here today said, “The whole dealer fraternity of J&K has been taken aback by this order since the present administrative dispensation has not sought any representation from the key stake holders.”
Davinder Batra, president of the Association added that the Motor vehicle business is one of the largest contributors of revenue to the state exchequer by way of GST and the present statutory order would further add to the woes of the Motor Vehicle business which already is on the downward slide and growth.
The SRO has not clarified the qualifying amount for calculating the tax since the value of the Motor Vehicle has the GST component coupled with cess from a minimum of 28% to maximum of 50% which makes the total value of the Motor vehicle as the qualifying amount and it will lead to cascading effect of taxation, he added.
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