Addressing a press conference in Panjim, Shiv Sena Goa unit chief Sudip Tamankar said that Transport Minister Sudin Dhavalikar, addressing the assembly, justified the hike stating that the number of vehicles on Goan roads are on the rise. However, he did not reveal the fact that the tax hike has prompted owners to register their vehicles in Pondicherry to evade tax.
The Independent MLAs had also raised this issue in the assembly stating that luxury cars are registered in Pondicherry and then brought to Goa, Tamankar said.
“The tax on registering a vehicle in Pondicherry is only one per cent, while in Goa one has to pay more than 15 per cent to get it registered. We have noticed spurt in the vehicles with Puducherry number plates on Goan roads, driven by the locals,” Tamankar told reporters.
BJP-led State government during the recently held monsoon session of the assembly had hiked the tax on the registration of vehicles due to which the total taxation (during registration) has crossed 15 per cent mark.
Tamankar said majority of the non-Goan people who are living in the State register their vehicle merely on the leave and licence document or by swearing an affidavit about their residential proof whose authenticity is never checked by State Transport Department.
“But when it comes to Goans, they have to submit number of documents including voting card, Adhar card and others to prove their identity,” he said.
“Shiv Sena has written to the Transport department asking them to issue circular to all the Regional Transport Offices to verify the authenticity of the leave and licence document or affidavit sworn in by appointing an officer before allowing the vehicle to be registered,” he said.
