Using the weapons of revenue recovery and vehicle seizure, the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) is cracking down on luxury vehicle owners in north Kerala who had their vehicles registered in Puducherry.
MVD officials said the special squad formed by the department would begin stern recovery actions soon after the return of officers from Sabarimala duty. Owners of more than 100 luxury vehicles from Kozhikode, Kannur and Wayanad districts are likely to face recovery actions if they fail to remit the estimated tax. Seizure of vehicles from those refusing to comply is also under consideration.
“Till January 3, we have identified 168 vehicles from Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts, which were registered in Puducherry. These vehicles were being used within the limits of 13 Regional Transport Offices in these three districts,” Deputy Transport Commissioner P.M. Mohammed Najeeb told The Hindu on Saturday. The squads have also spotted several other vehicle owners evading tax, and the list of such vehicles would be passed on to the Transport Commissioner.
Though the MVD has managed to recover a total fine amount of ₹84.28 lakh from some RC owners who wanted to legalise the out-of-Kerala registrations, there are several others who continue to ignore warnings. MVD records reveal that Kasaragod district has the highest number of such defaulters (80), followed by Kannur (23).
Fine collected
The Kozhikode Regional Transport office has collected the highest fine amount (₹67.59 lakh) through the actions initiated against 51 illegally registered luxury vehicles. A Kozhikode-based RC owner has remitted the highest tax amount of ₹22 lakh in the Northern Zone for regularising the Puducherry registration.
Mr. Najeeb said 60 out of the 168 suspected tax evasion cases would be investigated directly by the Crime Branch as its RC owners were suspected of forging legal documents to complete the registration process in Puducherry. Those who completed registrations using their own property address in Puducherry and brought the vehicle to Kerala will be able to escape penal action after remitting the due tax amount.
