Indian Express 22.02.2010
Octroi: Civic body seeks residents’ support
Shweta Desai Tags : corporation Posted: Monday , Feb 22, 2010 at 0409 hrs
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has turned to housing societies to recover its losses from those who register their cars outside the city to evade payment of octroi. It has sought information from them on flat owners or tenants whose cars carry registration numbers other than those given by the regional transport offices in the city.
Vehicles registered in Mumbai have registration numbers beginning with MH 01 (Mumbai Central RTO), MH 02 (Andheri) and MH 03 (Wadala-Worli). The civic body wants the residents to give information of any vehicle parked in their society, with number plates starting with codes other than these.
Letters have been sent to 133 housing societies, mostly large complexes, across the city so far. The civic body had taken up the issue following an expose in Navi Mumbai Regional Transport Office (RTO), wherein it was found that some, including a cricket star and a Bollywood singer, had registered imported vehicles there but had not paid the cess.
Most imported cars or expensive vehicles are registered outside Mumbai limits, where there is no octroi but only cess; people will have to pay only a meagre amount,” said chief assessor and collector NA Pathan. Mumbai is one of the few cities that charges octroi; one has to pay four per cent of the car’s value as octroi.
With just three inspectors for private cars, the Octroi department says it is impossible to physically inspect if every vehicle follows norms. “Owners park their vehicles in the complexes and the building secretary should be able to tell us which vehicle is not registered in the city. They can also give the owner’s name and address. We will send notices to them and recover the octroi,” an official said.
Octroi is a prime source of income for the BMC. The slowdown, however, had brought the collection down, forcing the civic body to tighten its vigil. The octroi collection target is Rs 4,425 crore this year.
Officials said octroi evasion by car owners resulted in huge income loss. “There will be no penalty imposed on those who come forward to pay the octroi now. At times, people register their car elsewhere and pay octroi in Mumbai, but their vehicle will bear the number of the city where it was registered. In such cases, owners can just show us the payment receipt.”
