Road Tax

On the purchase of a new vehicle, you are required, by law, to pay road tax that contributes to the registration charges of the vehicle. You are required to pay road tax on the basis of the state where you purchase the said vehicle. You can pay your road tax both online and offline. In the case of the former, you can visit the Parivahan website and make the payment. For the latter, visit the nearest RTO in your vicinity.

The road tax for a vehicle is levied by the government of the state in which you choose to register the said vehicle.

One of the primary reasons why road tax is collected at the state level has to do with the fact that the state government is the entity responsible for developing and maintaining roads and other road infrastructure.

And the collection of road tax by state governments is a way through which they can raise funds for their road infrastructure development and maintenance activities.

The payment of road tax for a vehicle must be done at the time of vehicle registration itself at an Regional Transport Office (RTO). Usually, the dealer of your vehicle collects the requisite amount from you and makes the payment of road tax online or offline on your behalf.

Also, since this tax is collected at the state level, you will be required to pay road tax online once again if you choose to move your vehicle from one state to another.

Making the payment of RTO tax online is the easiest and the most hassle-free way to do it. All that you would have to do to accomplish this is follow the below-mentioned steps.

1. Firstly, visit the Parivahan website.

2. Hover your cursor over the ‘Online Services’ tab and click on the ‘Vehicle Related Services’ option.

3. Select the state in which your vehicle is registered.

4. You will be redirected to a new state-specific webpage.

5. Choose the Regional Transport Office applicable to you and proceed to log into your account.

6. Enter all the relevant details such as your vehicle’s registration number.

7. Verify the details you’ve entered and make the vehicle tax online payment.

Alternatively, if you’re apprehensive about making vahan tax online payment, then don’t worry. You can choose to pay road tax through offline means as well. Let’s take a brief look at the process flow that you would have to follow.

1. Visit the Regional Transport Office where your vehicle has been registered.

2. Fill the parivahan tax form and make the payment at the cash counter.

3. Collect the road tax payment receipt.

When paying your road tax through the offline method, you may be asked to submit a few documents at the Regional Transport Office. Check out this list of documents down below.

• The Registration Certificate of your vehicle

• The vehicle insurance policy

• The purchase invoice of your vehicle

• A copy of your identity proof

• A copy of your address proof

• In the case of inter-state transfers, a copy of the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) provided by the RTO of the previous state

Did you know that you can get a road tax refund? Under two circumstances, you can get road tax refunds from the Regional Transport Office. Let’s take a quick look at both of the scenarios.

1. When you discard your vehicle

If you choose to discard your vehicle, you can claim a road tax refund from the RTO where your vehicle is registered. However, to do this, you should scrap your vehicle before the expiry of its Registration Certificate (RC), which is valid for 15 years.

To claim a road tax refund, all you need to do is visit your RTO and raise a refund claim by submitting the appropriate documents.

2. When you move from one state to another

Alternatively, if you’re moving from one state to another, you can also make a claim for road tax refund. The request has to be lodged with the RTO of the state from where you’re transferring out of.

At the time of claiming a road tax refund, you will be required to submit a few documents with the RTO. Here’s the list of documents that you might have to produce.

• A letter requesting the refund of road tax

• Registration Certificate of your vehicle

• Chassis imprint of your vehicle

• Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate

• Vehicle insurance policy

• No-Objection Certificate from the current RTO

• Original road tax payment receipt

• Proof of inter-state transfer and relocation

• Duly filled RTO Form 16 and DT

• CRTI intimation (in the case of the state of Karnataka)

Failure to make road tax payment online can lead to unnecessary and unavoidable penalties. In the case of repeated offences, there will be an increase in the penalties as well. Let’s take a closer look.

• In the case of a first-ever offence, the penalty would be the amount of road tax payable for two quarters.

• In the case of consecutive offences, the penalty would not be less than or equal to the road tax payable for a year. Depending on the circumstances, the penalty can be extended to up to twice the yearly tax amount.

As you can see, payment of road tax on time is very important since lapses can lead to severe penalties and unnecessary legal troubles. However, to make road tax payment, you will have to possess a valid vehicle insurance plan.

Without producing an active vehicle insurance policy, you will not be allowed to make road tax payments. So, make sure to first purchase or renew your insurance plan before proceeding with the tax payment.

If you’re confused as to the kind of vehicle insurance plan that’s perfect for you, visit the Bajaj Markets website right away. You can make a detailed comparison between multiple insurance plans and choose the one that fits your needs.