Kochi: The high-end luxury vehicles bearing Pondicherry registration, which were symbols of elegance and prestige till recently, are now hard to find on roads.
With the motor vehicle department (MVD) launching an all-out exercise against attempts to evade tax by registering luxury sedans in the Union territory, their owners are now not taking them out fearing action.
“For the last two to three days, such ‘vehicles can’t be seen on roads even at night. There are over 1,000 such vehicles registered in Pondicherry in Ernakulam district itself. So far we’ve issued notices against 200 of them. We’re tracing the rest and asked them to re-register here after paying up the fees,” said a senior motor vehicle inspector.
The MVD officials are planning to approach the cyber cell to track the premium vehicles fitted with the GPS and radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices.
High-value cars attract almost 15 percent tax over the purchase value in the state whereas in Union territories it’s less than one percent.
Post the MVD drive there’s a sudden increase in NOC petitions at the Pondicherry vehicle department with the owners on the run to re-register their vehicles to avoid MVD action.
“In the last two days alone, nearly 50 vehicles were given the NOC and are getting re-registered,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, a section of higher officers of the MVD favour allotting of a window period, one to two months, to offenders to re-register.
“Most of them were either ignorant or misled by car dealers who convince them that they can register their vehicles anywhere in the country and still use it permanently here. If given a chance they will be ready to correct their mistake,” he said.
