The transport department has tied up with State Bank of India (SBI) to accept road tax for commercial vehicles through Internet banking or debit cards in five districts.
Transport minister Brishen Patel inaugurated the facility in Patna on Tuesday. He said: “A beginning has been made to deposit road tax for commercial vehicles, but the process would not be complete till the facility is extended to all the districts of the state.”
He added: “At present the service is confined only to those persons who have an SBI account. The service would soon be extended to all the districts.”
To start with, commercial vehicle owners in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea would be able to pay the road tax through SBI. These districts constitute 65 per cent of the commercial vehicles in the state, said Patel.
The transport department’s principal secretary, R.K. Mahajan, said the facility would be available round-the-clock and taxpayers would not have to pay anything to avail it. Commercial vehicle owners would have to deposit an additional Rs 25 to receive a receipt of the online payment at their residence.
As many as 1.65 lakh vehicles are registered as commercial vehicles in Bihar, including 46,264 in Patna, Patel said. While private vehicle owners deposit road tax for 15 years in advance, the commercial vehicle owners have to deposit road tax every year according to the rules of the transport department.
In 2011-12, the transport department had contributed Rs 539 crore to the state government’s coffers from the collection of road taxes from commercial vehicles. Patel said the target for 2012-13 has been revised at Rs 650 crore.
Mahajan said the department was trying to reduce human interface, as a common complaint from residents is they have to go through middlemen to get a work done in the department. SBI chief general manager Jeevandas Narayan said the initiative would benefit the vehicle owners. He said income tax, excise tax, custom duty, commercial tax and electricity bills are being accepted through the SBI Internet banking in the Bihar-Jharkhand circle.
