The joyride of electric vehicles (EVs) in Karnataka may soon hit brakes as the State Government plans to impose road tax on these vehicles. Currently, EVs enjoy an exemption from road tax, but this new development may lead to an increase in their prices.
The sales of EVs have witnessed a steady increase, with the current number of registered vehicles in the state standing at 2.36 lakh. Karnataka was one of the first states to introduce an EV policy back in 2016, exempting both four-wheeler and two-wheeler EVs from paying road tax as of April 1, 2016, and 2017, respectively.
However, the government is now considering the elimination of this zero percent road tax exemption and instead proposing a 50% road tax. The state’s road transport authority has submitted a proposal to this effect, an official mentioned.
Currently, road tax for internal combustion engine (ICE) two-wheelers is calculated as follows:
- Vehicles costing INR 50,000 and below attract a 10% road tax, which increases to 12 %for vehicles priced between INR 50,000 and INR 1 lakh.
- Vehicles priced above INR 1 lakh are required to pay 18% as road tax.
For four-wheelers, the road tax is 13 %for vehicles below INR 5 lakh, 14% for those costing between INR 5 lakh and INR 10 lakh, 17 %for vehicles priced between INR 10 lakh and INR 20 lakh, and a flat 18% for vehicles costing INR 20 lakh and above.
Among the registered EVs, two-wheelers hold the lion’s share, with 83% of the vehicles registered in the last five financial years. EV two-wheelers hold 87.39% of the market share, followed by three-wheelers at 7.10%, and the remaining are four-wheelers (9,849). While EV sales are spread across Karnataka, Bengaluru has emerged as the leader, with 1,09,79,984 EVs registered, constituting 36.64 %of the total registered EVs in the state.
Sandhya R, a techie said, “The EV adoption still has uncertainties surrounding battery longevity, high replacement costs, lack of servicing infrastructure, and other related issues.
Considering the relatively higher costs of EVs compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in many cases, I request the government continue zero road tax for EVs in the coming years.” The reduction in subsidies has been implemented by the Central Government.
