Himachal Pradesh government has implemented a six-fold increase in tax on small passenger vehicles. The government had issued a notification regarding this on 31 October 2023 and it was published in the Gazette on 2 November 2023. If no objections and suggestions were received within the stipulated period, the government implemented it by issuing a notification in the Gazette on January 20. Under the notification, the special toll on All India Permit tourist vehicles has been reduced from Rs 3,000 to Rs 500 per day, while the annual special toll on tourist vehicles in the state has been increased almost six times.
Under the notification, commercial vehicles registered in the state with capacity less than five seats will get Rs 8,000 per seat per year instead of Rs 1,350, vehicles with capacity more than five seaters and less than 10 seaters will get Rs 2,000 per seat per year instead of Rs 800, 10 seaters will get Rs 2,000 per seat per year instead of Rs 800. Vehicles with more or less than 23 seater capacity will have to pay Rs 3,000 per seat per year instead of Rs 1,000 and vehicles with more than 23 seater capacity will have to pay special toll at the rate of Rs 5,000 per seat per year instead of Rs 1,500.
It may be noted that the government had implemented special toll rates of Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per day from September 1, 2023, for vehicles coming from outside states, after which travel agents from outside states started boycotting Himachal Pradesh. Travel agents were advising tourists to go to Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir instead of Himachal Pradesh. Due to this, there was a decrease in the number of tourists coming from outside states to Himachal Pradesh. In view of the loss in tourism business, the government has reduced the tax rates on tourist vehicles from outside states. Tourism businessmen had also presented their views before the government regarding this.
