HC bars both States from levying vehicle tax

Hyderabad: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments continue to lock horns on one issue or the other, requiring the intervention of either Centre or the Judiciary. In one such latest controversy, a Division Bench of the High Court at Hyderabad, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyothi Sen Gupta and Justice M S Rama Chander Rao, on Wednesday directed the governments of both States to respect orders made by the Governor before June 2 on the collection of quarterly tax from motor vehicles plying across both the two States.

According to the AP State Re-Organisation Act, both governments cannot levy any tax on the movement of transport vehicles.Tirumala Cabs complained in the High Court against the collection of the said tax by the Government of Telangana. It stated that though it paid quarterly tax for the quarter ended September 2014 for the all India tourist vehicles operated by it, the authorities are insisting on payment again. The petitioner brought to the notice of the court the GO Ms No.43 issued on 1-6-2014, wherein it was made clear that till March 2015, the quarterly tax if paid shall not be insisted upon again. The Bench took note of the contents of the GO and asked the officers of both the States to respect that decision.

In a separate development, a writ petition was filed questioning the proceedings issued by the officers of transport department of Telangana state on 29 July, directing the collection of vehicle tax. This is likely to come up for hearing on Thursday.