Discount on registration of all vehicles IN STATE until DecEMBER 31, SAYS CM
the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led cabinet on Wednesday overruled objections of the bureaucrats of its Finance and Law Departments and unanimously decided to slash road tax rates for registration of new vehicles by 50 per cent for the October-November-December quarter of the current calendar year.
The decision once implemented could incentivise retail buyers and induce buoyancy of auto sales which have been plummeting across the country for consecutive weeks.
Sawant, who again skipped holding the customary post-cabinet press conference, was quoted by a digital, audio-visual news platform as saying that the 50 per-cent road tax cut will be applicable for vehicles till December 31. “We have decided to reduce road tax up to 50 per cent for registration of all vehicles until December 31,” the news platform quoted Sawant as saying after the cabinet meeting.
The move to slash the road tax rates was first mooted by Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho a week ago apparently after auto dealership owners in Goa approached the government following alarming signs of dipping car sales in the run-up to the shopping season around Dusshera.
Godinho, however, had said that the incentive was to ensure the trend of luxury car buyers from Goa purchasing high-end vehicles and registering them in Puducherry were road tax rates are far lower.
The road tax slabs in Goa currently vary between 9 and 15 per cent for various categories of automobiles and depending on prices.
Earlier last week, the government move to slash road tax however faced bureaucratic roadblocks after the formal proposal moved by the Transport Department was red flagged by top bureaucrats in the State Finance Ministry as well as the Law Ministry, citing the potential revenue losses to an already cash-strapped State treasury.
The adverse comments appended to the file by the Finance and Law Secretaries forced the issue to the cabinet which finally overruled the objections of the bureaucrats and unanimously stamped its approval on the move at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
The Goa Automobile Dealers Association has welcomed the decision of Goa government and has specially thanked transport Minister Mauvin Gudhino for taking the initiative
The decision will boost the automobile industry which was under recession, said Prashant Joshi President of Goa Automobile Dealers Association (GADA)
Joshi said that entire automobile industry sale has gone down in India by 30-40 percent and in Goa the sale is reduced by 25-30 percent>> See pg 4
