PANAJI: The department of transport has registered an 8 per cent increase in the vehicles registered in the state during the recently concluded financial year 2016-17, as compared to that during the fiscal year 2015-16, with majority of these vehicles being two-wheelers, many of them with high-powered engines.
The department has also recorded a 7 per cent hike in its revenue by way of the motor vehicle tax collected during the financial year 2016-17, as against in the year previous to that.
As per the statistics provided by the department, it registered altogether 74,563 vehicles during the financial year 2015-16, as compared to 80,403 in the financial year 2016-17. Similarly, an amount of Rs 148.59 crore was collected by the department towards motor vehicle tax, during the financial year 2015-16, as against Rs 159.14 crore collected in the financial year 2016-17. Highly placed sources in the department of transport also maintained that although the registration of the vehicles in Goa has shown an 8 per cent rise, it should be noted that this rise is mainly due to the registration of large number of two-wheelers, numbering 58,672, including 56,926 motorcycles and scooters, as well as 1,746 motorcycles for hire.
“In fact, there was a sharp drop in the registration of two-wheelers and jeeps, including SUVs after October 2016, due to the demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000,” the sources said, observing that a total of 2,045 private cars and jeeps were registered during October 2016, while this number was reduced to 1,238 in November 2016.
The financial year 2016-17 witnessed altogether 19,536 four-wheelers being registered, including 18,267 private cars and jeeps, and 1,269 taxis, with the department of transport as against 58,672 two-wheelers registered during the same period. This indicates that the number of two-wheelers registered in the state, last financial year is over three times the number of four-wheelers registered here.
The sources further maintained that large number of the two-wheelers registered in the state include high-power engine bikes, providing tremendous speed to the riders, which is one of the reasons for the rising number of accidents in the state. “The department of transport is making all efforts to control the road accidents or at least reduce the impact of these accidents. However, irresponsible driving is resulting in high fatality rate, as high as one death per day by way of road accidents,” they said.
It has also been observed that there is a fall in purchase of vehicles, especially two-wheelers on auspicious days like Gudi Padwa, Dussehra and Akshay Tritiya, which in the past used to witness heavy vehicle purchases.
The department of transport also maintained that the decision of the government to discontinue the entry tax collected from the vehicles entering the state, later this year, once the Goods and Services Tax regime is rolled in, would have no impact on its revenue as the entry tax is collected by the public works department.
The department sources further revealed that after the ban on mining activities in the state, the purchase of trucks in Goa stopped completely. “And this situation continues in spite of lifting the ban on mining,” the sources stated.