Law enforcers keep a sharp eye to get hold of vehicles that do not bear a ‘KA’, which stands for Karnataka, on their number plate. However, when it comes to high-end cars and SUVs, authorities turn a blind-eye, unaware of the fact that almost all such luxury vehicles are registered in Puducherry. The car buyers ought to go for the option as it saves them Rs. 8 lacs to Rs. 30 lacs by way of PY registration.
The racket has been operating on a very large scale and caused the state exchequer, a loss of Rs. 8 lacs to Rs. 10 lacs every month. Owners of high-end luxury cars and SUVs, getting their vehicles registered in Puducherry has become a common practice, with the primary help being lent by none other than the car dealer itself.
Syed Shafi Ahmed, an Regional Transport Officer, clarified, “As per the Motor Vehicles Act and Karnataka Taxation acts, it is illegal. According to rules, non-transport vehicles from other states can ply on roads in the state for a period of one month. If the vehicle is in the state for a longer time than that, the owner has to get it registered here. The onus is on the owner to prove that the vehicle is in the state for not more than 30 days. They can do this by showing a fuel bill issued in another state indicating the date.”
As a matter of fact, the road tax, which accounts for a major part in the vehicle registration charges, proves to be quite less in Pondicherry as compared to Karnataka. Therefore, almost every luxury vehicle offered by Jaguar, Range Rover, BMW, Bentley, Mercedes or Audi showroom, bears a PY registration. On a monthly average, Bangalore car market sells as many as 80 high-end cars, each of which cost anywhere between Rs. 36 lacs to Rs. 2 crore. However, the common factor that forms a part of every such car is that it is registered in Pondicherry.
“There are some people, especially corporates, who are conscious of the law and prefer to register their cars in Karnataka to avoid harassment at the hands of RTO authorities and traffic police,” a dealer said. “But most prefer to have their vehicle registered in Pondicherry.”
“If the date is within 30 days, they will not be asked further questions. If RTO authorities find a vehicle which is here for months, it will be seized and given to the owner only after he or she pays road tax here,” Ahmed said.
Using a vehicle registered in another state for more than 30 days on city roads is a punishable offence, but the owners of these vehicles are undeterred as the traffic police rarely stop them to check documents, unlike a small or mid-segment car with a non-Karnataka registration.
“In spite of the application of the law, luxury vehicles with Pondicherry registration numbers are flourishing in Bangalore,” a source said. “Let the authorities go to high-end car dealers and examine the records. It will clearly indicate that buyers, who are income tax assesses in Bangalore, are registering their vehicles in Pondicherry.”
