Nagpur: Cracking down on luxury vehicle owners allegedly evading Maharashtra’s higher road tax, the Nagpur Regional Transport Office (RTO) has blacklisted 23 high-end vehicles purchased in the city but registered in other states and Union Territories.
“We have locked the chassis numbers of these 23 vehicles to prevent their registration in other states. Nagpur City RTO Kiran Bidkar confirmed the action.
The owners will also be unable to carry out official vehicle-related transactions unless they clear the applicable road tax in Maharashtra,” he said. Even some showroom operators advise buyers to opt for such registrations, resulting in significant revenue losses to the state,” Bidkar said. Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar raised the matter in the state assembly in July, alleging an organised “RTO racket” facilitating such registrations and other illegal collections.
Daman and Diu has emerged as a preferred registration destination for luxury car owners from Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, Navi Mumbai and other cities. Following the allegations, the state govt constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.
The issue of alleged tax evasion through out-of-state vehicle registrations had also rocked the Maharashtra legislature earlier this year.