Bengaluru residents will have to start shelling out two per cent of their property tax as road transport cess, starting this April.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) first passed a resolution to impose this two years ago but put it on hold fearing a public backlash.
Recently, BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta announced he would go ahead with the proposal.
Metrolife spoke to citizens to gauge their reactions to the additional taxation.
Where are the benefits?
Shivkumar V Naidu, secretary of the Domlur Layout Resident Welfare Association, says the cess will burden citizens and help officials and contractors line their pockets.
“This cess is not justified when citizens are already paying so much and getting so little,” he says.
Better facilities
Rhea Devaney, resident of Richards Town, says even paying road tax doesn’t make sense as the city does not have safe and well-maintained roads. “People don’t mind paying if they are able to reap benefits,” she says. The alternative, according to her, is to develop infrastructure and then tax people for use. “That way we’re able to see what we’re paying for in real time,” she says.
High tax
Prasad Shivarudrapa, resident of Shanti Nagar, says Bengaluru is already paying the highest road tax in the state.
“Bengalureans are buying the most number of vehicles, and paying vehicle and road tax. Why do we have to pay more?” he says. Such a cess, he says, would make sense in a remote area, where few vehicles ply.
Free public transport
Vinod Jacob, social activist who lives near Old Airport Road, says the BBMP currently sees a property tax compliance rate of about 80 per cent. “Why not 100 per cent? What are the revenue inspectors doing? Make sure that the commercial establishments are valued properly and pay their taxes,” he says.
The BBMP has state grants, local area development grants, Nagarasabha funds as well as MLA funds. “There has to be a proper audit to find where all this money is going? All we get is window dressing of projects before the elections,” he says. Projects in his area that have been underway for over two years are nowhere close to being completed, he says.
If such a transport cess is imposed then all public transportation in the city should be made free as it was done in Delhi, he
urges. “If that is the plan, then it is a welcome change as more people would rely on public transport, reducing the number of vehicles on the road,” he adds.
Road ownership
MN Sreehari, urban planner, says the cess is thoughtless. “If vehicle owners are already paying petrol tax, road tax and vehicle tax, why do they need more?” he wonders.
Many homeowners are seniors and may not even have a vehicle of their own, he adds.
“What is the point of paying tax if the state of the road in front of my house doesn’t improve? Can I go to the court if they don’t meet their end of the bargain?”
The roads belong to citizens as they are built with taxes. Why should the municipal corporation again collect money for them, he wonders.