MAPUSA
Although the State transport department registered a drop in registration of number of vehicles in July last year, it by no means can be attributed to the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax which came into effect in the same month.
The number of vehicles registered in the State transport department dropped to 4,580 in July, which was lowest in 2017.
The drop coincided at the time when the Centre introduced GST on July 1, 2017. But in the very next month (August), the number of vehicles registered with the department shot up to 9,267, which was the highest in the year.
Coincidentally, in 2016, the least number of vehicles registered with the State transport department (4,732) was also in July, clearly indicating that GST had no impact among vehicle buyers in the State.
Data collated by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) shows that the State transport department generated revenue of Rs 255 crore in 2017 through registration of vehicles, while the total number of vehicles registered in the same year was 87,119.
Correspondingly, in 2016, the department generated Rs 188 crore with the total vehicles registered stood at 78,918.
The bulk of the revenue at Rs 227 crore came by way of cash, while Rs 24 crore was paid online and Rs 4 crore by other means, clearly indicating that people still preferred to do business in cash despite government's push for digital payment.
However, in 2016 and the years before that the total revenue collected was only by way of cash.
Data showed that maximum revenue was generated in August 2017 and the least in July, while in 2016 maximum revenue was collected in October and the least in April.
The number of petrol vehicles registered in various RTOs in the State stood at 81,032 in the year gone by, while only 5,659 vehicles were registered as diesel.
A whopping 60,983 two-wheelers were registered in 2017, while 21,002 were Light Motor Vehicles and the remaining making up for other type of vehicles.
Surprisingly, the MoRTH data shows the figure of 8,638 as tax defaulters in the State for the last several years.
The Goan was unable to contact Transport Department, Director, Nikhil Desai to get his views as his mobile phone was found
switched off.
