Note ban: CM convenes meeting to assess impact on revenue

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened a meeting of officials of the finance department among others on December 28 to discuss the impact of demonetisation on revenue mobilisation in the state.

According to sources in the chief minister’s secretariat, officials of all the four major revenue mobilising departments - commercial taxes, stamps and registration, excise and transport - will be attending the meeting, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru. Siddaramaiah also holds the finance portfolio.

Nearly two months after the announcement of scrapping of high-denomination currency notes, there have been reports that revenue collection, especially in the stamps and registration department, has taken a hit.

Sources in the department said that revenue dropped by Rs 150 crore in November compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and the trend appears to be continuing in December. If the trend continues in the coming months, then the department may be short of Rs 1,000 crore to meet its budgetary revenue target of Rs 9,100 crore, sources said.

Registration of new vehicles has come down by around 25% post-demonetisation, say sources in the transport department. However, registration of new vehicles is low in December as prospective buyers wait for launch of new models by manufacturers usually announced in January. The target set for the transport department for the fiscal 2016-17 is Rs 5,160 crore.

It comes as a succour for the government that there has not been much of an impact in the collection of commercial taxes and state excise post-demonetisation. The two departments are likely to meet their budgetary targets of Rs 51,338 crore (commercial taxes) and Rs 16,510 crore (state excise), officials said.