Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, June 28:

A task force has suggested all the five municipalities in the Kathmandu valley to work together

and collect vehicle tax to reduce cost and increase revenue. The nine-member task force was formed by the first meeting of all five executive heads of the municipalities on May 12, 2005 to suggest on issues on which the municipalities in the valley can work together for collective benefits. Shankar Raj Kandel, head of the Revenue Department of KMC, heads the panel which has two representatives from each of the five municipalities. “For the first phase of coordination between the municipalities, the task force has proposed for a one-door system to collect vehicle tax which presently is being collected from five different counters and the charges also varies,” said Noor Nidhi Neupane, revenue officer at the Revenue department of KMC.

Neupane, who is also the member secretary of the task force said the one-door system would reduce the hassle to the vehicle owners and therefore increase the revenue. He said the task force has expected that the revenue thus collected would increase by threefold taking in mind the fact that some 80 per cent of the vehicles registered in Bagmati zone are stationed in the Kathmandu valley only. The five municipalities collected a total of Rs 10m as vehicle revenue in the fiscal year 2061/62 and altogether 11 people are working for collecting the tax in their offices located on the premises of Bagmati Zonal Transport Office (BZTO) Ekantakuna. Adopting the one-door system, the municipalities can have the revenue collected from four employees in place of 11 and they can also bring uniformity in the tax amount for each vehicle, he said. The panel has suggested annual vehicle tax rate as Rs 1000-3000 for bus, truck, lorry and other heavy vehicles, Rs 200-300 for public car and jeep, Rs 100-300 for public tempo and Rs 500-1,000 to public minibuses among others. Neupane said the committee has also suggested the municipalities not to collect such taxes from the vehicles used by the media houses and emergency services.