May 12: The last fiscal recorded a fall in the number of vehicles registered in Guwahati.

A source in the office of the district transport officer (registration and licensing), Kamrup, said compared to 35,602 vehicles registered in 2006-2007, the figure dropped to 28,218 in 2007-2008.

Although there has been an increase in the number of vehicles, several factors have contributed to the fall in the registration of vehicles. “The fall was noticed mainly in cars and two-wheelers. The number of cars registered here was reduced to 8,623 last financial year compared to 10,319 in the preceding year,” he said.

In the case of two-wheelers, 703 scooters and 12,756 motorcycles were registered in 2007-2008 compared to 1,045 scooters and 18,712 motorcycles registered in 2006-2007.

“In fact, since 2001-2002, the number of vehicles registered with the district transport office, Kamrup, has been increasing every year except the last financial year,” the source said.

One of the factors responsible for the drop in registration of vehicles is the creation of transport offices in the three new districts of Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri under the Bodo Territorial Areas District (BTAD). Vehicle owners in these areas now register their vehicles in these districts instead of Guwahati.

The source also attributed the drop in the numbers to the city-based owners of expensive cars registering their vehicles in Meghalaya to evade heavy tax burden.

“In Assam, the owner has to pay road tax for 15 years whereas in Meghalaya the owner pays road tax for either five years or 10 years,” he said. “To reverse this trend, the Assam government will have to modify the rules to our advantage,” he added.

The state government is losing a hefty amount of revenue, as car owners in the city prefer places like Nongpoh in Ri Bhoi district and Shillong in Meghalaya for registration.

Another reason for decline in the registration of vehicles in the city is that banks have become less liberal in the past year in sanctioning car and two-wheeler loans.

“The banks have become more cautious in sanctioning car loans after last year’s verdict by Delhi High Court that stated that no violent or forceful method could be adopted to affect re-possession of vehicles by the banks even if the borrowers were unable to repay the EMI on time,” the source said.

However, despite the fall in the registration of vehicles and loss of overall revenue, the revenue collection of the district transport office, Kamrup, has increased in the last fiscal. “Strict enforcement of rules, better collection of tax arrears, improved monitoring of renewal of the permits of commercial vehicles has resulted in the increase in the revenue collection despite the fall in registration of vehicles, which is the main source of revenue,” the officer said.

He said the total revenue collection in 2007-2008 was Rs 46,61,87,278 compared to Rs 46,33,44,769 in 2006-2007.