Economy slowdown hits car sales; dept achieves 13% of its target
BENGALURU: Karnataka’s Transport department has been seeing a decline in its revenue. Not because of poor imposition of fines but due to the fall in the number of vehicule registrations, especially of high-end vehicles. With an estimated revenue of Rs 3,420 crore in Bengaluru alone this year, the department has received only Rs 105 crore in the first quarter.
Achieving only 13 per cent of its target, the department is at a new low, said to be a first, according to a transport official. “I have never seen such a low target achieved. The economy is down at the moment and the revenue received from the registrations has decreased drastically. Vehicular registrations is one of the main sources of income for the department,” a source said, adding that similar trends are seen in the entire state with the total estimated revenue of Rs 6,614 crore. As of now, there are 12 RTOs in the city.
Road tax, registration fee for new vehicles, permit fee, pending taxes and fines, driving licence fee and inspection fee at checkposts are the department’s major revenue sources. In the city, Commercial Tax department, Excise department, Stamps & Registration and the Transport department are the main revenue-generating sectors to the state government.
“The automobile industry is in a bad shape due to bad economy. And now most citizens tend to drive their old vehicles longer. This also has a lot to do with the city’s infrastructure, where people feel a second-hand car is better and costs less for registration,” V Ravichandar, urban expert
“The department also needs to ensure that second-hand vehicles are getting registered since new vehicular sale is in a slump,” he added.
“If people do not buy vehicles, naturally revenue from registrations will not come to us,” said V P Ikkeri, Transport Commissioner. According to official data, the growth of eight core industries dropped to 0.2 per cent in June, mainly due to contraction in oil-related sectors as well as cement production. The central government on Wednesday also revised downwards the growth rate of these eight sectors for May to 4.3 per cent from the earlier estimate of 5.1 per cent.
