High price will have to be paid to keep old vehicles: Re-registration fee hiked sharply

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The re-registration fee for old vehicles has been increased significantly. According to the central notification, it is effective from August 20. The increased fee will have to be paid for vehicles whose registration has been renewed during these days.

The re-registration fee for two-wheelers over 20 years old has been increased from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. An increase of Rs 1,500. For four-wheelers, it has been increased from Rs 800 to Rs 10,000. An additional Rs 9,200 will have to be paid. Autorickshaws will be charged a re-registration fee of Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 800. The state government had doubled the road tax on old vehicles in the last budget. This is in addition to that.

Vehicle owners will have to spend around Rs 20,000 in fees and road tax to renew the registration of small cars like Alto and Maruti 800. The green tax for these was recently increased from Rs 400 to Rs 600. A testing fee should also be paid when automatic testing centres come into operation. When the amount to be spent on repairs and painting is also considered, the expenditure will be more than the market value of the vehicle.

The central government had also increased the registration fee for vehicles older than 15 years, but it has not been implemented as the High Court has temporarily stayed it. The centre devised a method of collecting fines on vehicles whose registrations have not been renewed based on the duration for which the registration remains unrenewed. Vehicle owners approached the High Court alleging that the state government has the authority to impose fines and that the centre is encroaching on it. It is enough to pay the old fee until the final decision is made.

The fee for two-wheelers was increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, for autorickshaws from Rs 800 to Rs 2,000, and for four-wheelers from Rs 800 to Rs 5,000. If the court allows the higher fee to be charged, all vehicles whose registrations have been renewed so far will have to pay an additional amount.

Benefit to the state government

Although the central government increased the fee, the benefit is to the state government. The amount will go to the state treasury.