KOCHI: The association of luxury bus operators in Kerala has welcomed the Centre’s move to remove the option for collecting taxes from inter-state passenger buses from the parivahan website, saying it would halt the “unlawful” collection of taxes by states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The association alleged that despite the bus owners paying up to Rs 3 lakh in the name of the All India Tourist Permit (AITP), state governments like Kerala and Tamil Nadu were unlawfully collecting taxes from buses, thereby burdening the operators.
“Though the states receive their share from the permit amount, the governments were still collecting taxes from us while citing losses as the excuse,” alleged said A J Rejin, the association president.
On April 25, the Centre removed the tax levying options for AITP private passenger vehicles from the parivahan website.
“If the tax collection resumes in future, we will have to take steps like halting services,” he told reporters at the Ernakulam Press Club on Monday.