On the last day of the budget session on Wednesday, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed two bills for taxing vehicles and immovable property to generate additional revenue of ₹216.16 crore. Amid discussions, Aam Aadmi party (AAP) members tore copies of the proposed legislations and staged a walkout over the government decision to impose the new cess.
The infrastructure development fee would be imposed at the rate of ₹0.25 per litre each on the sale of petrol and diesel in the state. Likewise, special fee at the rate of ₹0.25 would also be levied for every 100 rupees of the value of purchase of immovable property.
The provisions of the bill, after getting the governor’s nod, would be applicable from April 1. The collected revenue will be deposited in the development fund of the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB).
The government faced strong opposition from the House for this. Along with this, nine other bills including the Anti Red Tape Bill-2021 were also passed.
The Assembly also passed an amendment to the Punjab Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, thus enabling the state government to increase road tax from time to time without taking the legislative route every time. Under this, a green tax will be imposed on old vehicles with the aim of stopping pollution, promoting electric vehicles and reducing the consumption of petrol and diesel.
After the enactment of this bill, the registration fee of all two-wheeler and four-wheelers will be 20% of the total cost of the vehicle. As of now it is 7% to 9% on a two-wheeler and 9% to 11% on a four-wheeler. Re-registration of vehicles will also become expensive by 35% to 95%. Transport vehicle permit fees will also be charged at 20% of the total cost of the vehicle.
The registration fee of the truck with the chassis will be 50% of the total price and the registration fee for the full body truck will be 40%. In registration of school vehicles, 20% of the cost of the vehicle will have to be paid. The same rate will also apply to the registration of buses, tractor-trolleys.
Other bills passed include the establishment of two new universities in the state through The Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University Bill-2021 and The Sarkar Beant Singh State University Bill-2021.
The other six bills are Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Amendment Bill-2021, Punjab School Education Board (Amendment) Bill-2021, Punjab Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Bill-2021, Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development (Amendment) ) Bill-2021, Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (Amendment) Bill-2021 and Punjab Abhiya Deh (Record of Rights) Bill-2021.
