Hyderabad: Covid concerns eat into RTAs revenue

Hyderabad: Can coronavirus be spread through online services? If one goes by the explanation given by the transport department, yes it can.

The department website says that online facilities were suspended in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 virus. This measure is causing heavy revenue loss to the government and citizens too are suffering due to denial of services.

The only online service that is available is that those who had purchased N-IV version of the vehicles can register their vehicles online and that too in view of the Supreme Court order which said that March 31 was the last date for registering such vehicles.

Even Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Odisha have instructed its RTOs (regional transport authorities) to complete the BS-IV registration. Physical inspection of vehicles can take place after the lockdown was lifted, the court said.

Following lockdown, the TS transport department initiated online facility on March 23 exclusively for BS-IV vehicles. According to reports, there are about 2 lakh vehicles in the State which need to be registered.

The RTA has also imposed a sort of unannounced moratorium on paying quarterly taxes for various categories of vehicles. When asked, officials said that in view of Covid-19 threat all other online services have been stopped.

In any case, the vehicles are not running on roads and, hence, the facility has been stopped. Asked if they would waive off the tax since vehicles are not running, they said that it is not so and the vehicle owners will have to pay once the lockdown is lifted.

According to sources, the department on an average generates revenue of Rs 6 crore every day from across the State in the form of taxes and other transactions.

The offices have been closed for the last one week in wake of the lockdown.