BENGALURU: The transport department which depends on vehicular registrations is facing a massive revenue shortfall of over Rs 850 crore in Karnataka. With a target of Rs 7,160 crore for the financial year and Rs 550 crore on an average per month to be achieved, transport officials fear that the department is highly unlikely to achieve its target.
This would also be the first time that the department has seen such a drastic blow to its revenue collection in a decade, officials said. The department crossed its targets until last year. However, this year, vehicular registrations have brought zero revenue in the first three months compared to 2019-20. Data accessed by The New Indian Express shows that two-wheelers alone had a 12.77 per cent decline while private cars observed an 11.9 per cent fall in registrations.
“I have never seen such a low target achieved. The economy is down at the moment and the revenue received from registrations has decreased drastically. Vehicular registrations are one of the main sources of income for the department,” said a senior official at the transport department.
However, considering the COVID-19 situation, the department is also expecting a rise in vehicle registrations in the next few months. “People are now scared to take public transport due to the COVID-19 spread. So there is an assumption that people will slowly switch to private vehicles to be on the safer side. We can only hope that sales will improve in the next few months,” said Transport Commissioner N Shivakumar.
Officials also expect the department’s focus on shifting to electric vehicles to further create an impact on revenue. Previously, with the increase in traffic fines, “we would get a small portion of the fines while the rest went to the traffic police,” says a senior officer. However, even traffic fines are at a standstill. “On an average, we have been collecting only Rs 120 crore per month,” said Additional Commissioner for transport (e-governance and environment) Shivraj Patil.
Road tax, registration fee for new vehicles, permit fee, pending taxes and fines, driving licence fee and inspection fee at checkposts are the department’s major revenue sources. In the city, the commercial tax, excise, stamps & registration and transport departments are the main revenue-generating sectors for the state government among others.