VIJAYAWADA:With Hyderabad High Court’s interim order going against them, there is a growing unease in the AP truck operators over whether the state might emulate TS and impose entry tax on trucks entering AP.
The Hyderabad High Court has held that AP is a separate state now and the vehicles entering Telangana from this Telugu state would have to pay entry tax. There was no relief for petitioners either as the court had said that the money paid by the petitioners at the checkpost would have to be kept in a separate account and that it should not be diverted for any other purpose. The amount paid by the remaining truckers as entry tax at the inter-state checkpost would go into the state treasury.
“We were expecting the High Court to deliver a judgment in our favour. Now, it had said that TS government could impose entry tax. At least now the AP state government should initiate a dialogue with the TS and see that the new impost is withdrawn,” AP Lorry Owners’ Association president YV Eeswara Rao says.
At the moment, the trucks that are registered in Telangana are entering AP without paying any entry tax. Only the trucks registered in AP are being asked to pay tax when they enter TS. “If the TS government continues to collect entry tax, the AP government too might resort to imposition of tax on vehicles registered in Telangana.
If that happens, the prices of all commodities would go up and that would hurt the people in both the states,” he said and felt that it was not too late for both the states to come to an understanding and not hurt each other.