To revive the ailing transport industry, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to waive the penalty for late payment of commercial vehicle (CV) taxes. During the pandemic, the industry had been hit due to the restrictions on the movement of CVs. The move will help CV owners that were registered before April 1, 2020.

L Venkateshwar Lu, Principal Secretary, Transport Department, issued a notification saying that the owners of CVs whose cases for defaulting on tax payments were pending in court could apply for the waiver and withdrawal of the petitions.

CV owners pay quarterly taxes to the transport department, ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000. The department charges a 5% compound interest for failure to pay the taxes in time. About 50,000 commercial vehicles — 16,000 in Noida, 23,000 in Ghaziabad, and 11,000 in Bulandshahr and Hapur — had not cleared their taxes so far. In total, the RTO will waive Rs 183 crore with this move.

The government notification also clarified that the owners of vehicles that had been seized by banks for defaulting on EMI payments or those against which recovery notices had been issued could also request the waiver.

The applicants will have to pay a Rs 1,000 fee and will have one month to request the waiver. The vehicle owners can pay the pending taxes in three instalments without any penalty.