Tax on electric cars
With reference to the Sunday Times article last week headlined “Tax hikes short-circuit electric car sales, drive investor into debt”, in addition to the investor, many others who are clients of this vendor would have read this article with great interest. How does one feel to languish for 10 months with a new electric car in one’s garage without being able to use it? Short of being mad!
The Finance Ministry Secretary’s statement that there is no reason for electric car tariffs to be different from other cars shows an ignorance of government policy. Is he unaware that this Government was one of the first to sign the “Climate Change Protocol” in Paris and this means emission free devices must receive concessionary duty. Has he checked what happens in other countries? In the UK if you buy an electric car you get a grant of Sterling Pounds 5000. In China you get a subsidy of 60 per cent of the car price. In Italy and Holland, it is duty free, and various concessions like use of bus lanes. The whole world will move to electric cars but our dear country moves the other way. Please reproduce from Wikipedia taxes on electric cars to see what pathetic policies we follow. The Secretary talks of revenue, what about petrol consumption, lube oil consumption, no filters all saving foreign exchange? Is not foreign exchange more important than local rupee tax? Forget about emissions.
If it is true, then the minister’s policy of imposing the gigantic tax hike on electric cars which have been ordered and paid before the tax hike is highly unfair, yet allowing individuals the same concession. Why this arbitrary difference in treatment? Yet it is some 20 individuals or more who are suffering from this decision.
We urge the minister to intervene and release the electric cars stuck in the port, on some long term financial basis, because the escalated tax dues cannot be paid. What good is it to let these cars go to rack and ruin, place individuals who bought cars in jeopardy, and drive the investor to bankruptcy? Enable this investor to resume his business, so that all others will also benefit. Electric cars deserve a zero tariff at least, it is too much to expect grants!! -Victim of the tax hike