Transport deptartment faces tough time to generate revenue

With outbreak of Covid-19, the Transport department has been facing tough time to achieve the targeted revenue. However, the situation is better compared to previous months.

The registration of vehicles saw a drastic fall, since the outbreak of Covid. The RTO also restricted the services, to abide by the guidelines of the government, in order to contain the spread of Covid.

RTO, Mysuru (East), K S Soundarya said, initially, the revenues had declined to 15%. But, now, registration of new vehicles is slightly picking up."

"Earlier, the RTO used to issue 150 Driving Licence (DL) and 100 Learner's License (LL) on an average per day. Now, the authorities have restricted to 70 DLs and 50 LLs to ensure social distance. There was no slot for renewal of driving licence for a couple of months. Now, 50 DLs will be renewed per day," she said.

RTO, Mysuru (East), has a target of Rs 2.93 crore per month. But, the authorities could achieve only 50% of their monthly target since the outbreak of Covid. The revenue collection is slightly improving, compared to April and May. “We are achieving 50% of the target. We need time to improve,” she said.

According to the RTO, registration of vehicles is a major source of revenue. But due to the pandemic, hardly a few vehicles are being registered. In addition, private buses, maxi cabs, used for public transport, surrendered their vehicles, to avoid tax. Buses and cabs have to pay tax, every quarter.

The situation is not different in Mysuru (West) RTO. The RTO has target of Rs 189 crore per annum. The authorities could achieve only 50%. There was no revenue in April and May due to lockdown. However, there was improvement in June and July, said the RTO.

A manager of a car showroom said, sales of new vehicles have come down drastically. “We used to sell at least 50 cars during Shravana masa (month). But, this time, we have failed to achieve even 25% of the target,” he said.

Not only cars, sales of two-wheelers, vehicles used for commercial purpose and agriculture purpose also has declined, since the outbreak of Covid.