Traffic cops for hiking taxes on private vehicles

The Delhi Traffic police on Tuesday suggested hiking various taxes on private vehicles to make them more expensive. The motive behind the suggestion is to reduce the use of private vehicles and encouraging public transport to ease the worsening traffic situation, reports Harish V Nair.

The Delhi Traffic police on Tuesday suggested hiking various taxes on private vehicles to make them more expensive. The motive behind the suggestion is to reduce the use of private vehicles and encouraging public transport to ease the worsening traffic situation.

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Vikas Pahwa, counsel for the Traffic Police, told a Bench headed by Chief Justice AP Shah that they had submitted suggestions to the government and they were under consideration.

“To ease out the traffic on the road, the first and foremost step is to put on hold on the registration of the vehicles. We are in favour of slapping more taxes on private vehicles in the form of road taxes, parking charges, area pricing, road congestion charges and other such taxes,” Pahwa submitted.

As per traffic police figures, 30 per cent of vehicles plying on the road are cars. Sixty two per cent are two-wheelers.

Appreciating the traffic police's suggestion, the bench asked the government to consider them.

The court was hearing a petition by NGO Manushi, which said that the ban on rickshaws from arterial roads and Chandni Chowk area in Old Delhi violated the fundamental rights of rickshaw pullers.

During the hearing, the court, terming the ban as “arbitrary”, has been asking authorities why they were not fixing a limit on the number of cars a person can possess.

“It seems the total number of cars in Delhi are more than the combined number of cars in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata,” the bench had noted in September this year.

“We find the guidelines on cycle rickshaws are unrealistic. Why are you so enthusiastic in banning them? Why do not you issue guidelines limiting the number of cars a person can have in the city?” the bench observed.