Myopic action
To start collecting entry tax from commercial vehicles at all entry points of the city, municipal corporation will be doing what it should actually avoid. The entry of commercial vehicles, especially heavy vehicles like trucks, should be avoided by providing bypass ring roads to improve the quality of breathable air as these vehicles are a major source of pollution. Spending a huge amount on air -cleaning towers only to later allow polluting vehicles in the city is a myopic move. As for generating revenue for its needs, all-out efforts must be made by all including the sitting MP to ensure that central grant is received.
SC Luthra, Chandigarh
Needs to be planned well
Imposing any type of entry tax on commercial vehicles is bound to act as a deterrent. It will no doubt generate a certain amount of revenue for the already bleeding exchequer of Chandigarh MC. The other indirect advantage will be that fewer commercial vehicles will ply through the city, which would in turn bring down pollution and also bring down traffic bottlenecks. But the MC and the administration should have a long-drawn plan before implementing this tax. A dedicated corridor around the periphery to cater to the the commercial needs of the tricity. Imposing entry tax is bound to again lead to corruption in the long run, as is seen in many traffic violations, where the violator bribes the enforcer and gets away with the rule of the law.
Anil Kumar Yadav, Chandigarh
{{/usCountry}}Anil Kumar Yadav, Chandigarh
{{/usCountry}}Will help bring down vehicular pollution
Once known as a beautiful, pollution-free city, Chandigarh is soon becoming a crowded and polluted city. The city also has the highest density of car ownership in the country -- 731 per 1,000 persons, which only adds to the problem. To ensure that the city remains a clean and green city, the MC should impose entry tax on commercial vehicles and green tax on other vehicles. To solve the problem of bottlenecks at the entrance, MC can make use of fast tags. The entry tax will also serve as an additional revenue source for the MC.
Avinash Goyal, Chandigarh
Extra tax burden
The MC’s plan to impose entry tax on commercial vehicles will prove to unproductive. Majority of the commercial vehicles that ply on city roads are registered in neighbouring cities and states, thus the proposed move will deter them from entry the city. So the civic body should immediately shelve the plan.
Sunny Dhaliwal, Chandigarh
MC already wasting its funds
A number of residents from Mohali, Panchkula and nearby towns commute to Chandigarh everyday for work purposes. Many of them may not necessarily have a private vehicle, and the absence of a robust public transport system, they have to depend on autos and cab-service aggregators such as OLA and Uber, which already charge whopping amounts from their customers. Imposing entry tax on commercial vehicles will only worsen the financial burden on the common man. The administration and MC officials are wasting its funds on providing costly smartphones and laptops to councillors, facilities like car, AC, allowances etc to government employees. The MC must first address the civic issues facing the city with the funds it already has in its kitty before imposing another tax.
Abhilasha Gupta, Mohali
MC should bring down its expenses
Instead of burdening the common man with yet another tax, the Chandigarh municipal corporation would do well to plan its budget so as to provide residents the best of facilities with the available funds. Use of technology and energy efficient means would also help to bring down its expenses.
Ishita Nara, via email
Vehicle owners already pay a lot to MC, admn
It seems like Chandigarh MC is only concerned with tax collection and not about residents’ welfare. Residents, and vehicle owners in particular, already pay the administration several taxes to the civic body and administration. Instead of augmenting its income, the MC should help the administration in proper regulation of commercial vehicles in Chandigarh. MC should show results with ‘already generated funds.
MPS Chadha, Mohali
Unwelcoming to visitors
The MC’s proposal to levy entry tax on commercial vehicles is unwarranted as such a tax would portray that Chandigarh is unwelcoming to visitors. Apart from hindering the smooth flow of traffic and leading to congestion, such a tax would just add to the financial woes of people. MC should think of other means of generating funds and also cut down unwanted and wasteful expenditure. Public land is unauthorisedly occupied.
DS Banati, Mohali
Revenue generation
The imposition of entry tax on commercial vehicles is a welcome move as it will generate revenue that the MC can further use for the welfare of residents.
Anju Mohan, Panchkula
Cost of implementation may be more than returns
The fund-starved MC’s finance and contract committee has decided to formulate a policy to start charging entry tax from commercial vehicles. The civic body ought to think of a sustainable policy to earn revenue instead of taxing the overtaxed residents. The ground reality is that the city has many borders which are already congested, especially during the peak-hours. Many employees commute daily from the satellite towns for work. People engaged in unorganised sectors like labourers and domestic help will be the worst-affected. Autos have hiked their charges. In the absence of public transport , they have to dole out more money to reach their workplace. It may be impractical to have day-long vigil to identify locals and outsiders. The exercise is likely to cost a major share of the revenue. Timely recovery of property tax and penalising illegal water/power connections will add to revenue. Last year, the MC was allotted was allotted two sites for running petrol- pumps which fetched ₹3 crore. There are proposals for running gyms in community centres. Building ring roads may take years for want of funds. The MC must provide basic amenities before overtaxing the residents.
Usha Verma, Chandigarh
Already reeling under inflation
It’s unfair to impose tax on commercial vehicles entering the city as people are already suffering due to the fuel price hike and inflation. If the city wants to promote trade, it needs to keep its borders open. Also the MC must try to augment is funds by recovering its pending taxes and dues in the form of property, electricity and water charges.
Garv Bhupesh, Panchkula
MC can work on other sources of revenue
The cash-strapped Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is going all out to collect as much money as possible. One such proposal is imposing entry tax on vehicles. But the plan is completely untenable as it is set to cause pollution and traffic congestion, besides adding to the economic burden on daily commuters. It would be better if the civic body explores feasibility to start a mini-bus service on the pattern of other metropolitan cities. It could also take up the work of paid parking which is at present being maintained by contractors who are fleecing the public. Other projects such as meat and fish market in Sector 41, where presently only 14 out of 34 shops are on rent. MC is already losing out on a lot of avenues to generate income. Instead of working on that, it is adding to the burden on residents.
SK Khosla, Chandigarh
A meagre charge
The MC’s plan to start charging entry tax is a much-needed initiative as the city is in urgent of several repair and maintenance works such as road carpeting, installation of closed-circuit cameras, streetlight installation, sanitation, tree plantation, etc. Further, the entry tax will make little difference for commercial vehicle owners.
P Mehta, via email
Where is the tax-payers’ money going?
Chandigarh is already earning a handsome amount from taxes in the form of road taxes, GST, toll taxes etc. In addition to this, residents pay heavy fee for obtaining permits. If an entry tax is also imposed, the freight charges will also increase. Ultimately, this burden will weigh heavy on the common man who is already under financial distress due to the ongoing pandemic. To resolve is fund crunch, the Chandigarh municipal corporation must look at ways to bring down its expenses and take austerity measures.
Subhash Chugh, via email
Inconvenience to public
Entry tax on commercial vehicles is likely to cause more inconvenience to common public as well as it will be counterproductive. Chandigarh is surrounded by Mohali, Panchkula, & Himachal. Apart from causing congestion at crossing points, it will add more miseries to common man with time and money. Need of the hour is to have one-time commercial tax at the time of registration of vehicles rather paying taxes at all entry points of different states. Further, it will save time fuel. Municipal corporation should explore funds through other means like digital advertisement, flex posters etc.
Col TBS Bedi (retd), Mohali
A catch-22 situation
Imposing entry tax on commercial vehicles entering the Union territory may not be a very attractive revenue generator but it would certainly help a bit to add to the revenue generation. Along with that it would have an additional eco-friendly benefit because if such a tax is levied, then commercial vehicles passing through the Union Territory would prefer to skirt the city thus saving the city from needless exposure to the smoke pollution, generated by the commercial vehicles and it would also ease the road congestions a bit. As such it is not really a bad idea.
AK Sharma, Chandigarh
MC yet to recover pending dues
Commercial vehicles criss-cross Chandigarh on a daily basis, especially from its satellite cities Panchkula and Mohali. Not just heavy vehicles transporting goods, even cabs picking and dropping people from the three jurisdictions enter and exit the city. The city authorities are already facing a tough time extracting money out of cab aggregators such as Ola and Uber, and now adding heavy vehicles to that list would accentuate the problem. The city is facing a major fund crunch and the civic body is leaving no stone unturned to explore various sources of revenue generation. But as a matter of fact, the Municipal corporation is yet to recover crores of rupees the form of rentals and electricity arrears from defaulters, including government offices.
Kundan Lal Sharma, Mohali
More chaos on congested borders
Imposing an entry tax in Chandigarh will create more chaos on the already congested borders of the City Beautiful. The authorities must not think of revenue everywhere. Additional sources can be used for revenue generation without troubling the citizens. Moreover, instead of increasing revenue, the authorities should remove the weeds of corruption which have sprung up in the entire administration.
Saikrit Gulati, Chandigarh
A regressive tax
The proposal to impose entry tax will be regressive and surely prove counterproductive. The operational expenditure will be more than the expected income and will also add to the problems of commuters coming to city from Punjab and Haryana. It will lead to corruption, jams at check posts and increased pollution. The entry tax will also lead to cost of goods going up. The MC must take other steps such as strengthening its recovery cell to recover crores of rupees pending on account of property tax, rent of buildings, water charges, income from Shamlat lands of villages under the control of corporation, complete its property Register to find sources of income etc.
Kidar Nath Sharma , Chandigarh
Entry tax is justified
The municipal corporation, which is short of funds, is planning to impose entry tax on commercial vehicles. By doing so, it will only be able to earn a few crores which may help in the overall development of City Beautiful. However, the rising level of pollution will remain unabated. To check pollution levels, the central government has to take certain steps to wipe out vehicles over 15 years old in a phased manner. The old vehicles should be scrapped. New commercial vehicles should be exempted from paying excise and other taxes. But on the other hand, the MC should also ensure that the permanent citizens of Chandigarh should get the best of facilities like electricity, water, medical and safety. The funds should be used to improve road infrastructure and maintenance purpose. Citizens of City Beautiful should not be overburdened with taxes to generate funds. On the other hand, the Chandigarh MC is grappling a big financial crunch. So, the MC is thoroughly justified in imposing entry tax on commercial vehicles.
Sanjay Chopra, Mohali
What experts say
Revenue generation
The entry tax will be so negligible that its individual impact will be low but the cumulative impact on MC revenue will be large.
Sarbjit Kaur Dhillon, Chandigarh mayor
City to lose out
If Chandigarh starts charging the transporters for entry, they will shift to Panchkula where there are no such restrictions. In the long run, UT will face losses in its VAT collection.
BL Sharma, gen secy, Chandigarh transport association
Costly commute
Instead of imposing another tax, which will be a burden on the common man, UT needs to strengthen the public transport system. A cab trip to Chandigarh from Zirakpur already costs me ₹200, this tax will only add to make commuting more expensive.
Navkiran, a Zirakpur resident
Another tax burden
It may be additional revenue for the MC, but for people, it’s another tax burden when they are already reeling under the Covid impact and high inflation rates.
Yogesh Dhingra, AAP councillor and leader of opposition
Ring road
The financial viability of the proposed tax needs to be pondered upon. Expediting ring road projects in the city as a precursor to this policy would be a good move.
Amardev Singh, assistant professor, NITTTR Sector 26
Reader of the week
Entry tax no solution to MC’s fund crisis
The imposition of entry tax will not help solve the MC’s fund crunch. The proposed law may, however, help restrict the entry of vehicles, especially those that cross the city on route to other states and cities. To address the fund crisis, the MC must explore more avenues to generate revenue and also ensure that the funds in hand are properly utilised.
Sukhpal Singh, via email