KOCHI: Don’t get surprised if you see a Motor Vehicle Inspector act like a police officer while on duty. Yes, it is going to be a true affair as the department is on a mission to explore every loophole in order to nab the vehicle owners who have registered their vehicle at Puducherry to evade the state’s road tax.
As per the new move, the Motor Vehicle Inspectors will visit the residence of the owners of each Puducherry registered vehicle to inspect the footage of the CCTVs installed in their residences.
“Taking action against those who registered the vehicle at Puducherry with a fake licence is an easy affair,” a top officer with the MVD told Express.
“But there are many who have registered their vehicles by influencing the local people. In that case, it will be difficult to take action against them though they are using the vehicle for several years in the state. If we find the CCTV footage of such vehicles in the state we can find how long the owner has been using the vehicle.”
In a drive conducted by the MVD in the premium vehicle showrooms, it was found as many as 700 vehicles are registered at Puducherry resulting in a revenue loss of over Rs 60 crore to the state exchequer.
“The process of identifying the location of the vehicle is going on. Since most of them are staying in apartments, we have asked the residents’ association to provide the CCTV footage and based on this we will send a notice,” said the officer.
Meanwhile, the MVD has also started sending showcause notice to the vehicle owners who have registered their vehicles at Puducherry.
“Based on the notice we served to actors Amala Paul and Fahad Fazil, they agreed to re-register the vehicle in the state. We have also issued a notice to over 50 such vehicle owners. If they are reluctant to pay the state road tax we will take stringent measures,” said the officer.
The department has also decided to send a special team to Puducherry for getting more details about the vehicles from the Puducherry Transport Department.
“With the help of the department, we will collect all the details of the people who have registered there. We will visit each address to access the details,” said the officer.
700 vehicles are registered at Puducherry resulting in a revenue loss of over I60 crore to the state exchequer