With the transport department initiating the process of freezing registration of non-electric vehicles (non-EVs), questions are being raised over legality of the capping and why other options are not explored to promote EV switchover from diesel/petrol vehicles even as fears abound of revenue loss.
The transport department, under which the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) comes, is now working on writing to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to restrict the registration number in the VAHAN portal according to the limit set in the EV policy.
With the UT losing a sizable chunk of its annual revenue, there is internal resistance to the mandatory capping, it is learnt. Also, automobile stakeholders are raising questions over the legality of mandatory freezing registration of non-EVs to meet the capping targets.
During the administration’s internal discussions on introducing mandatory capping, the transport department had expressed strong reservations. “There was an issue with losing sizable chunk of revenue. With mandatory capping, the RLA would have to deny registration to people buying new vehicles in the city. This would translate into revenue loss,” said a UT official requesting anonymity.
The RLA, in 2021-2022, earned around Rs 182.29 crore from registration of vehicles in terms of different fees and taxes.
“The registrations last year came in the back of the city automobile market recovering from the Covid pandemic. This year, the administration was expecting much larger revenue generation with strong growth returning to the sector. Till September this year, and at half-way point of the financial year, the RLA has already earned more than Rs 160 crore,’ said an official.
Another contention of the transport department was that the administration could discourage people from buying non-EVs by hiking registration fees in the city.
“The registration charges in the city are comparatively lower than neighbouring states. This encourages people from neighbouring cities like Panchkula and Mohali to use rent deeds with Chandigarh address for availing a registration in the city. If these charges are brought at the same level as Haryana and Punjab, registration of new vehicles in the city is likely to fall by 10% to 20% per annum,” said the official.
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