BENGALURU: In a special drive to curb tax evasion by private buses, the Karnataka Transport Department officials seized over 25 buses at Attibele check-post for operating without paying state taxes on Friday morning.
The inspection team was led by Additional Transport Commissioner Omkareshwari, and Joint Transport Commissioners Shobha and Gayathri conducted surprise inspections on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which began at 4 am and went on till 10.30 am.
Omkareshwari said that over 25 buses were detained at checkpoints near the Karnataka border. These vehicles, registered in other states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, had only paid their home-state taxes, but were operating commercial services in Karnataka without paying the Karnataka State Road Tax.
She further explained that while these buses hold All India Tourist Permits (AITP), they were violating permit conditions by picking up individual passengers and functioning like stage carriages, instead of operating as tourist contract carriages.
Officials also said the ongoing drive follows similar legal precedents set in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where the respective High Courts directed state transport departments to collect road tax from vehicles registered outside their states, but operating commercially within their territory.
The department estimates that the enforcement drive could generate nearly Rs 1 crore fines from the detained vehicles, based on seat and berth calculations. Officials clarified that the detained passengers were not inconvenienced — BMTC and private buses were arranged to transport them free of cost to their destinations.