<p>Bengaluru: The Transport Department seized 1,618 vehicles and collected Rs 71.73 crore in taxes and fines as part of a year-long crackdown on Motor Vehicles Act violations across Bengaluru’s 12 RTOs in 2025-26, data shows. </p>.<p>Non-transport vehicles — mainly personal cars registered outside Karnataka — along with goods vehicles, meter taxis, auto-rickshaws and All India Tourist Permit (AITP) vehicles accounted for 1,396, or 80% of the seizures, according to the data. </p>.<p>The bulk of the 479 personal cars seized were registered outside Karnataka, pointing to a rise in non-state vehicles on Bengaluru’s roads. </p>.Tejasvi Surya seeks rollback of lifetime tax on e-cars.<p>“Most of these vehicles had evaded lifetime tax in Karnataka,” Shobha AM, Joint Commissioner of Transport (Bengaluru Urban), told DH. </p>.<p>Owners of non-state vehicles are required to pay lifetime tax if the vehicle is kept for use in Karnataka for more than 12 months. Thereafter, they must obtain No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from their home state and transfer vehicle documents within 14 days, she added. </p>.<p>While the department believes many non-state vehicles are not transferred for years, it lacks a “robust” mechanism to track them. It maintains a checkpost at Attibele on the border with Tamil Nadu, but non-state vehicles can still enter through other routes and remain undetected for years. </p>.<p>Besides tax, non-state vehicles are also liable to pay a fine of 1% per month based on their cost, Shobha said.</p>.<p>Non-transport vehicles are also checked for other violations such as expired insurance and fitness certificates, and carrying excess luggage. </p>.<p>While goods vehicles were checked the most (1.27 lakh), just a tiny fraction (377) was found violating permits, exceeding the Registered Laden Weight (RLW), exceeding noise limits, plying with expired fitness certificates and defaulting on tax. </p>.<p>M P Omareshwari, Additional Commissioner of Transport (Enforcement, South), said goods vehicles were checked mainly for tax, fitness certificate and overloading violations. Passenger vehicles were checked for all violations, including fitness certificates, tax and insurance, she added. </p>.<p>Fitness certificate violations attract a fine of Rs 3,000 for the first offence, depending on vehicle category (MGV, LGV or HGV). Exceeding the RLW carries a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first offence and Rs 10,000 for the second. </p>.<p>Permit violations attract a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first offence and Rs 10,000 for the second. </p>.<p>Auto-rickshaws were mainly checked for permit violations. AITP vehicles were checked for permit violations, carrying commercial luggage and not carrying passenger manifests. </p>.<p>Transport vehicles are also required to pay tax per passenger every three months, though the state government recently reduced the tax burden. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: The Transport Department seized 1,618 vehicles and collected Rs 71.73 crore in taxes and fines as part of a year-long crackdown on Motor Vehicles Act violations across Bengaluru’s 12 RTOs in 2025-26, data shows. </p>.<p>Non-transport vehicles — mainly personal cars registered outside Karnataka — along with goods vehicles, meter taxis, auto-rickshaws and All India Tourist Permit (AITP) vehicles accounted for 1,396, or 80% of the seizures, according to the data. </p>.<p>The bulk of the 479 personal cars seized were registered outside Karnataka, pointing to a rise in non-state vehicles on Bengaluru’s roads. </p>.Tejasvi Surya seeks rollback of lifetime tax on e-cars.<p>“Most of these vehicles had evaded lifetime tax in Karnataka,” Shobha AM, Joint Commissioner of Transport (Bengaluru Urban), told DH. </p>.<p>Owners of non-state vehicles are required to pay lifetime tax if the vehicle is kept for use in Karnataka for more than 12 months. Thereafter, they must obtain No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from their home state and transfer vehicle documents within 14 days, she added. </p>.<p>While the department believes many non-state vehicles are not transferred for years, it lacks a “robust” mechanism to track them. It maintains a checkpost at Attibele on the border with Tamil Nadu, but non-state vehicles can still enter through other routes and remain undetected for years. </p>.<p>Besides tax, non-state vehicles are also liable to pay a fine of 1% per month based on their cost, Shobha said.</p>.<p>Non-transport vehicles are also checked for other violations such as expired insurance and fitness certificates, and carrying excess luggage. </p>.<p>While goods vehicles were checked the most (1.27 lakh), just a tiny fraction (377) was found violating permits, exceeding the Registered Laden Weight (RLW), exceeding noise limits, plying with expired fitness certificates and defaulting on tax. </p>.<p>M P Omareshwari, Additional Commissioner of Transport (Enforcement, South), said goods vehicles were checked mainly for tax, fitness certificate and overloading violations. Passenger vehicles were checked for all violations, including fitness certificates, tax and insurance, she added. </p>.<p>Fitness certificate violations attract a fine of Rs 3,000 for the first offence, depending on vehicle category (MGV, LGV or HGV). Exceeding the RLW carries a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first offence and Rs 10,000 for the second. </p>.<p>Permit violations attract a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first offence and Rs 10,000 for the second. </p>.<p>Auto-rickshaws were mainly checked for permit violations. AITP vehicles were checked for permit violations, carrying commercial luggage and not carrying passenger manifests. </p>.<p>Transport vehicles are also required to pay tax per passenger every three months, though the state government recently reduced the tax burden. </p>