Dreams of buying car crash with hike in tax
The road just got bumpier for that dream drive. Delhi government’s notification to increase road tax on cars has affected the city’s neo-professionals the most. Many first-time buyers who had planned to go in for a small car will now need to wait and save some more.
At a time when the Indian car market is flooded with options, this move has left many first-time buyers disheartened. “Buying your first car is always a special moment in one’s life, but I guess I have to wait to experience that. I wanted to buy a car within a budget of Rs 3 to 4 lakhs, but these increased rates have made me think twice. Moreover, there are already so many additional expenses involved, I don’t want to pay an additional Rs 15,000 as road tax,” opines Debankur Kashyap, an employee with Barclay’s Bank.
According to the new rates, small cars that cost up to Rs 3.5 lakh would entail a road tax of Rs 14,000 and the notification has come into force from June 1 onwards. While the government’s focus is to discourage the use of private vehicles and decongest the city’s infamous traffic, carmakers are speculating a temporary fall in car sales. “In the last two months, we have sold around 80,000 cars in the country, of which Delhi’s share is about 13 per cent. Following the hike in road taxes, we are expecting car sales to go down for some time, but it is only a temporary downturn as sales would eventually get back to normal,” opines Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager of Maruti (marketing).
However, there is a catch to it. A lot of customers in order to evade new rates are buying cars from outlets in the NCR region, where these new rates are not applicable. “Why would pay extra money when I can get it cheaper in Ghaziabad and Gurgaon? Even getting a Delhi registration won’t cost me so much,” opines Pradyumna Goswami, an employee of American Express. “Many people register their cars in the name of their relatives residing in the NCR region to evade such tariffs,” adds Srivastava.
Post new comment