In a bid to curb pollution and motivate people to switch to environment-friendly alternatives, the road transport ministry on Monday decided to impose additional taxes on old vehicles that are unfit for roads as ‘green taxes’.
The ministry said in a statement, The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has approved a proposal to levy a ‘green tax’ on old vehicles that are polluting the environment. According to the ministry, the revenue collected from the green tax will be kept in a separate account and will be used for tackling pollution.
Things that you need to know if you own a private vehicle
1. Personal vehicles to be charged with green tax at the time of renewal of registration certification after 15 years
2. Higher green tax (50% of road tax) for vehicles being registered in highly polluted cities
3. Differential tax will also be charged depending on fuel (petrol/ diesel) and the type of vehicle.
4. Vehicles like strong hybrids, electric vehicles and those running on alternate fuels like CNG, ethanol and LPG will be exempted
Apart from these things, the ministry also noted, under this, transport vehicles older than eight years could be charged with green tax at the time of renewal of fitness certificate at the rate of 10 to 25% of road tax.
Public transport vehicles, such as city buses, will be paying lower Green Tax, the ministry noted adding, meanwhile, vehicles used in farming, such as tractor, harvestor, tiller, etc to be exempted entirely. The proposal will now go to the states for consultation before it is formally notified, the ministry said. “The states will be required to set up state-of-art facilities for emission monitoring.”
The Minister also approved the policy of deregistration and scrapping of vehicles owned by the Government department and PSU, which plied on the road for 15 years or more. It is to be notified, and will come into effect from April 1, 2022.
Comments are closed.