Bengaluru: In a major relief for the thousands of other-state employees in Karnataka, the Supreme Court has ordered refund of the road tax the state transport department collected from out-of-state vehicle owners under a new transport law.
As per the ruling of a Division Bench, comprising justice J. Chelameswar and justice S. Abdul Nazeer, the state government should return the lifetime tax levied on out-of-state vehicle owners for using their vehicle in the state for a period exceeding 30 days as per a new law enacted in 2014.
The bench directed the Karnataka government to return the Rs 35 crore collected in tax from out-of-state vehicle owners since the amendment changing the upper limit for driving vehicles registered outside Karnataka without paying road tax from 12 months to 30 days.
The Karnataka High Court had earlier declared unconstitutional the Karnataka Motor Vehicle Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2014, which provides for collecting lifetime tax on vehicles registered outside the state. The court also dismissed an appeal filed by the state government challenging the single judge’s verdict of striking down the law.
Following the High Court verdict quashing the amendment to the state’s road tax rules, around 200 out-of-state vehicle owners had approached to regional transport offices for the refund of the tax collected from them ‘illegally’ for plying their vehicle in the state beyond 30 days.
The apex court also ruled that those claiming refunds would have to give an undertaking that they would return the money to the government if the final verdict came in the favor of the state government.
A forum called ‘Justice for Non-KA Registration Vehicle Owners’ has been leading the fight against the amendment aimed at generating more revenue for the state exchequer.
Until the final verdict is pronounced, vehicles registered outside Karnataka can remain in the state for a period of 12 months without paying additional taxes.
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