Indore RTO Crackdown Recovers ₹3 Lakh From Bharat-Series Tax Defaulters

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Bharat Series (BH), introduced to ease vehicle transfers for people in transferable jobs, is turning into a tax recovery headache for the Transport Department.

The Indore RTO has begun cracking down on BH-series vehicle owners who failed to pay their biennial road tax, recovering over Rs 3 lakh from just seven vehicles this week.

Although BH-series registration exempts owners from state-to-state transfer formalities, they are required to pay road tax every two years. However, officials said many owners skip tax payments after initial registration, forcing the department to now issue notices and seizure warnings.

In response to directions from the Transport Headquarters, the Indore RTO has compiled a list of over 20,000 vehicles with pending tax dues totalling more than Rs 400 crore. The list includes several older or scrapped vehicles, so for now, officials are targeting recent defaulters, especially those from the past year.

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“Notices have been sent and phone calls made to defaulting vehicle owners,” said RTO Pradeep Sharma. “If dues aren’t cleared, their vehicles will be seized.” He said that more than 200 BH-series vehicles with outstanding taxes from last year have already been served notices.

The BH-series was introduced in 2022 to simplify vehicle ownership for central and state government employees and private sector staff frequently transferred across states. Under this scheme, BH-registered vehicles need not re-register when moving between states and instead pay tax every two years.

Explaining the tax structure, Rohit Atut, in-charge of the RTO’s four-wheeler branch, said: “Owners must pay 1.25% of the vehicle’s value every two years. For example, a Rs 10 lakh vehicle attracts a Rs 12,500 tax. If delayed, a penalty of Rs 100 per day is imposed.”