Kochi: The High Court has ruled that tourist vehicles registered in other states can be taxed in Kerala as well.
Clarifying that in the absence of a Central law, the state government has the power, the court did not accept the tourist bus owners' plea to end the double taxation.
Tourist vehicle owners had accused the state of collecting additional tax, over the all-India permit fee, as a move to subvert the All-India Tourist Permit system introduced by the Centre to facilitate inter-state travel.
The Motor Vehicle Department had decided to levy the tax after noticing vehicles that should have been registered in Kerala were being serviced in Nagaland, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh with local registration under the All-India Permit and Authorisation Rules 2021.
The tourist bus owners approached the High Court after the state government decided to levy tax under the Kerala Motor Vehicle Taxation Act if the buses were not registered in Kerala.
