KOCHI: Ernakulam denizens who got their cars registered in Puducherry and evaded the Kerala road tax need to strap themselves in. For the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has decided to initiate stringent measures to force the owners of such cars to pay the tax.
The steps MVD is considering include releasing the list of such cars and their owners, who are yet to pay the road tax and re-register their vehicles.As per the initial data collected, around 237 Puducherry-registered cars are plying in Ernakulam. Of them, not even half have paid the tax amount and changed the registration.
Rules mandate cars registered in other states should operate in Kerala only for a year, within which its registration has to be changed to Kerala.“Owners of vehicles having Puducherry registration and operating in Ernakulam have been served notices. Some have responded. But a majority of the owners are yet to pay the road tax. We are giving them adequate time to change the vehicles’ registration and pay the road tax,” said MVD inspector Biju Isaac. To rein in those not doing so, the Motor Vehicles Department has decided to publicise a list containing the details of the vehicles and their owners.