VIJAYAWADA: Aimed at reducing pollution emissions, the Centre has approved a proposal to levy green tax on old transport vehicles polluting environment in Vijayawada. A proposal in this regard has been sent to the State government before it is formally notified.
Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC) M Purendra told The New Indian Express that the green tax will be levied at the rate of 10 per cent to 25 per cent of road tax on vehicles older than eight years at the time of fitness certificate renewal. The tax will be collected by the transport department at the time of renewing the Pollution Under Control (PUC) Certificate.
However, the public transport vehicles such as city buses will be charged a lower green tax, he said.The DTC explained the central government has given green tax exemptions for hybrid and electric vehicles and those running on alternate fuels such as CNG, ethanol and LPG.
Besides exemption was also given for farm vehicles, harvesters and tillers. "We are yet to receive the complete guidelines from the Centre. However, the proposal will come into force only after taking the suggestions of the State government," Purendra informed.
The owners of transport vehicles are up in arms against the decision and appealed that it be rolled back. "Already the transport sector is reeling under crisis due to a variety of factors and with the new proposal, it would definitely ruin the livelihood of the owners of transport vehicles," Andhra Pradesh Lorry Owner's Association (APLOA) general secretary YV Eswara Rao said.
The association was taken aback about another decision—as per the proposal, motorists and freight operators who buy new vehicles after their old ones are scrapped may get a registration fee waiver and discount on road tax.
At present, the old vehicles are only used by a few operators that also up to a distance below 50 km radius for transporting essentials of the civil supplies department and ferrying goods to storage godowns. The association also stated instead of taking sudden decisions, the central government should focus on taking action against industries emitting higher emmissions.
Rao said that by enforcing the proposal, the government would ruin the livelihood of motorists and freight operators and scrap the proposal.