The stopping of a 1942 model jeep registered in another State, by officials of the RTO early in 2014 for the non-payment of local tax, began a process which resulted in the High Court on Thursday quashing the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2014 which made it mandatory to pay local taxes for vehicles which have been plying in the State for more than 30 days.
Since the introduction of the 30-day rule, many out-of-State vehicle owners have been caught and fined. With a sizeable migrant population living and working in the city, this quickly became a major issue.
A Facebook group, ‘Justice for Non KA Registration Vehicle Owners’, started by the jeep owner Waseem Memon quickly grew and many share the story of how they were caught. Today, the group has around 35,000 members and has played an important part in the High Court judgement delivered on Friday.
“I started the group in 2014 and in 2015 we had also started Drive Without Borders which shares similar goals. The idea was to gather public opinion against a rule which was unjust. There are many people who come on short visits to the State and were being forced to pay huge amount as lifetime tax. Refunds were also impossible,” said Mr. Memon. Over the course of two years, the group took several steps to fight the amendment legally and became a sort of forum to get get information about rules and documents.
The quashing of the amendment on Thursday brought cheer to members who are now hoping for options like yearly or quarterly payment of tax. “We plan to raise the issue of handling charges which dealers take from car buyers next in the consumer courts. We are working on the same,” Mr. Memon added.
Officials of the Transport Department continued their enforcement drive on Thursday even as the High Court quashed the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2014.
On Thursday morning, RTO checkposts at Sadashivnagar, Yelahanka, Bhasyam Circle, Manyata Tech Park and Hebbal were checking and catching vehicles from other States and fining them for non-payment of tax.
This continued even after the judgement was announced. However, officials said that even if the 30-day rule had been quashed, they still could fine vehicles which had been plying in the State for more than one year.
“We have to study the order copy and the government has to decide whether an appeal should be filed. We will know which rules to enforce once the entire judgement has been studied,” said Transport Commissioner, Ramegowda.
As news of the judgement spread on Thursday evening, the question being asked by several vehicle owners, who had already paid the lifetime tax, was if they could claim a refund.
While legal experts point out that those who have paid can seek refund after the High Court order, the officials had conflicting opinions about what the quashing of the Karnataka Motor Vehicle Amendment 2014 meant.
However the general opinion among officials was to wait and watch. “We have to study the order copy to know if it is applicable with retrospective effect. It is too early to say,” a senior official said.
Lifetime tax ranges from 14 per cent to 18 per cent
Amendment to Karnataka Motor Vehicle Taxation Act was introduced in 2014
It reduced grace period from 12 months given by Centre’s Motor Vehicle Act to 30 days
Motorists owning non-Karnataka registered vehicles had to pay fine as well as tax
