TN: ‘Repeal Lifetime Tax on Public Motor Vehicles,’ Demand Owners and Drivers

In October this year, the Tamil Nadu government amended the TN Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1974, increasing lifetime taxes and registration of new motor vehicles. The Act was amended to augment the financial resources of the state government, stating that the receipts from the taxes on vehicles are low, resulting in less revenue for the government. The amendments came into implementation on November 7.

Vehicle owners and drivers' associations have opposed the amendments, stating they are currently suffering financially due to unfair online fines, app company’s loot, increased toll charges, and aggregator rules. At this time, they stated that the lifetime tax imposed by the Tamil Nadu government is not acceptable.

Therefore, this new levy should be abandoned immediately as it will further affect the motor industry and the workers who depend on it, they state. On behalf of the motor vehicles association, drivers and owners have requested that the old system be followed.

Until last month, the government was collecting quarterly taxes for public motor vehicles. At present, it has been ordered that the tax should be paid for life. Many associations of drivers and owners of motor vehicles said that lifetime tax on vehicles cannot be paid immediately; a tax payment period is required.

The TN Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1974, was last amended in 2012. Taxes under other categories, like inter-state transfer of vehicles wherein new registration is provided, were also increased by amendment.

PROTEST HELD IN COIMBATORE

All India Road Transport Workers’ Federation staged an attention-grabbing demonstration on Tuesday urging the state government to withdraw the 100% increase in life tax imposed on public transportation motor vehicles.

A large number of road transport unions and motor vehicle owners and drivers participated in the demonstration held in front of the Coimbatore District Collector’s office on behalf of the All Trade Union Joint Action Committee.

The motor vehicle industry is facing a severe crisis due to successive attacks like the COVID-19 imposed pandemic, inflation, toll fee hikes and petrol and diesel price hikes. The life tax hike implemented by the Tamil Nadu government will take a heavy toll on the industry and further weaken the motor vehicle industry, said the protestors.

The federation leaders who participated in the demonstration said that without cash flow in the hands of the public, they are already unable to raise funds for their vehicle-related expenses. Some of them include vehicle insurance, fitness certificates and road taxes. In this situation, to pay 100% tax for a lifetime is something that is definitely not possible for us, therefore, we have now staged this demonstration to draw the attention of the government, they said.

They have sent the demands of the protest to the transport minister of Tamil Nadu and the departmental representatives. If their reasonable demands are not met, the next step is to engage in subsequent protests, including road blockades and strikes, they said.

More than a thousand people from districts including Coimbatore, Tirupur, and Nilgiris participated in this demonstration. More than 5,000 tourist vehicles are operating in the Nilgiri district and more than 1,000 in Tirupur district.

Leaders of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Road Transport Workers Union, All Trade Union Joint Action Committee, and Owners and Drivers Association took the lead in the protest. Labour Progressive Federation, a trade union affiliated to the ruling party in Tamil Nadu Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) also took part in the protest. Leaders of the Empo Traveller Association, Innovo Tourist Association, and Coach Van Maxi Cab Association addressed the gathering.