Sale of top-end vehicles not impacted by lockdown as registration in Thane RTO rise

The RTO has registered 30 imported cars and bikes alone in the last three months in Thane region, including a ₹7.25Cr Rolls Royce and ₹2.5Cr BMW

The economy might have suffered during the lockdown. However, that has not affected the sale of top-end imported cars and motorcycles, as per the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Thane records.

As per the Thane RTO records, it had registered 88 vehicles from January to December, 2019. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo)

The RTO has registered 30 imported cars and bikes alone in the last three months in Thane region, including a ₹7.25Cr Rolls Royce and ₹2.5Cr BMW. The RTO also has earned ₹1.75Cr in revenue from taxes by registering these high-end vehicles merely in just the last three months.

As per the RTO records, it had registered 88 vehicles from January to December, 2019. Jayant Patil, Deputy Regional Officer, RTO, Thane, said, “This year, since March the sale was not good due to lockdown. However, it has taken off in the last three months when we registered 30 vehicles in merely three months out of a total of 58 imported vehicles till date this year. The sale has especially been good since Dussehra. We have earned revenue of ₹1.75Cr in the entire Thane region, with taxes as high as ₹20L for a single car.”

Patil added, “After the complete lockdown in March, the RTO had started registering vehicles from May. Registration in the first two months was low. However, it increased as there were no signs of public transport resuming.”

Some of the vehicles sold during this period included Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Mark, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, Porsche cars, and BMW and Yamaha motorcycles.