[sustran] Re: [bnet] Re: Green = Pollution and Congestion- Taxes on Cars

[Prabha Krishnan]

Sorry friends,
If I have given the impression that I do not support congestion tax.
It is the implementation I'm worried about.
When we came to Mumbai from Delhi, we were approached by touts who offered
to take care of entry tax or whatever it was. We refused and paid up. For
PUC certificate too the same short cuts are available. I twice filled up
petrol without my PUC being updated - through oversight, not thru intention
to cheat.
My fear is that as with any new tax, the same captive audience will get
taxed, and will subsidise the rich and powerful.
In a slightly differnent context - Kisanbhai has forwarded the story of the
Walmart women class action suit. I analysed public service ads put out by
PRCA - most aimed at women, telling them how to save fuel.
There were no ads telling men in government service not to rush off to the
airport to see off or recieve their minister bosses. In general cars and
bigger cars and free petrol are seen as symbols of office, not as tools to
save time and effort.
Were we to strigently cut short the perks and privileges of our ruling
classes, congestion on roads and fuel consumption will both come down. This
is where the complexity comes in.
Thanks, Prabha. 
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: bombaynet at yahoogroups.com
Date: 06/27/04 16:12:08
To: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport; NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups
com; bombaynet at yahoogroups.com
Cc: Harshad J. Kamdar; bombaynet at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bnet] Re: Green = Pollution and Congestion- Taxes on Cars
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
Frankly we fail to appreciate Prabha's contention that the issue is 
complex.    We have  to look to the existing situation and visualise 
conditions most likely  to come up and devise measures to ease the 
present and to avoid  future hardship to residents. 
 
Our suggestion is to charge under Pollution Tax one time levy  when a 
new car leaves the show room and recurring charge on the fuel filled 
payable at the time of filling up of the tank.  Congestion Tax is a
recurring 
charge to be paid on the basis of fuel filled.      Can anybody avoid
registration 
for bringing car on the road with a distinctive serial number. No car can
run on 
roads without the serial number assigned by the registering authority.   In
India,
registration tax is now one time hence the Pollution Tax as well can be one 
time. In some countries, reregistration is annual with changing serial
number.     
 
Both recurring Pollution and Congestion Tax can be added to fuel price and 
collectd on the basis of fuel delivered at the pump. There can be no
avoidance 
of this tax as the gas pump shall have to deposit the amount to the treasury
on 
the same lines like Sales Tax or Excise Duty prevailing in India.    Both
taxes 
shall have to be uniform for the entire country to seal likelihood of
leakage. 
 
Part of Congestion Tax collections can be used to upgrade public transport
both intracity and intercity.   Public transport service within the
commuting 
areas Indian cities is dismal, neglected by the authorities who invariably
collect 
Passenger Tax, sometime touching to 15-25 % of the ticket fare on every 
ticket issued for travelling in the hazardous rickety and noisy buses.  
 
The paradox is that every  bus passenger, intracity and intercity, pays the 
Passenger Tax while a car owner has nothing to pay for use of road and f
or killing pedestrians on the road. 
 
Public transport service, both railway and bus, needs to be improved.  
Improved railway commuter service can enable ciommuters to shift to railways
and public bus service can reduce hardship.  To improve public road service 
it is essnetial that number of private motorised vehicles has to be reduced.
The above taxes will be a positive movement for easing road congestion 
and increasing cimmuter satisfaction.    Hope Prabha supports these levies 
as measures to ease congestion and reduce polution, both to the benefit of 
the people and more of the poor.    
 
Like any developing (poor) country. the Indian Government is doing
everything 
to support motorisation at the cost of the common man who cannot dream of 
owning a car ever, even a Maruti (Suzuki) car. Best wishes.
 
Kisan Mehta         
Save Bombay Committee 
620 Jame Jamshed Road, Dadar East,
Mumbai 400014
Tel: 00 91 22 2414 9688 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Prabha Krishnan 
To: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org ; NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com ;
bombaynet at yahoogroups.com 
Cc: hjk at rincon.co.in ; bombaynet at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 4:25 PM
Subject: [sustran] Re: [bnet] France to Impose Green Tax on Big Cars


This issue is complex. When Maruti started manufacture it was a "peoples car
 - implication being when we have more moolah we "graduate" to better,
bigger cars.
Big cars have aspiration value. In my building the watchmen routinely stand
up to greet visitors in big cars - the same courtesy doesn't extend to
people like us in small cars.
Taxes are easily avoidable by this class of big people in big cars. THe big
car manufacturers are also policy makers. 
As such, ecofreindly mass transport wil be a distant dream. 
 
From: bombaynet at yahoogroups.com
Date: 06/26/04 13:48:01
To: sustran discuss; NewMobilityCafe
Cc: bombaynet at yahoogroups.com; Harshad J. Kamdar
Subject: [bnet] France to Impose Green Tax on Big Cars
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
We should welcome and applaud the French proposal to impose Green
Tax  on Big Cars in view of increasing quantum of air exhaust in
crowded human settlements.   This is possibly the first time that such a
move being taken by the authorities to curb polution.
 
  Vehicle registration taxes worked out on the laden weight of the vehicle
to be  paid at the time of putting  the vehicle on the road are comon
however they are  found to be inadequate to curb increasing air pollution.
 
One time tax as proposed may not be appropriate. To achieve the object
of ensuring minimum health, what is required in addition is a Pollution
Tax tagged to the petrol/diesel/gas consumption. That would also curb
the use of vehicle  after paying the first tax. The realisation of Pollution
Tax  can be utilised to run medical care  centres for cardiovaswcular and
related  diseases as well as curtail the use of finite resource.    Taxes
should be applicable throughout  the designated area, say the EU, France etc
so that no vehicle  can escapes payment of these taxes.
 
One time tax proposed for Paris would not control the pollution because
the vehicle owner after paying  the initial tax payable at the time of
purchase would soon forget the payment altogether and use the costlier
vehicle 
more vengefully to the further loss to the community.
 
Along with Pollution Tax, authorities should consider levying Congestion Tax
to 
be  paid on the basis of actual furl coinsumption.  Rates for taxes may be 
different for different fuels, say more for diesel in personal cars, to
encourage 
change over to less polluting fuels.   Congrstion Tax reciepts can be
utilised for 
improving  pedestrian movmeent facilites. In the fast growing motorisation, 

pedestrian safety and convenience get the lowest priority.
 
Thje SUVs and 4D vehicles should be charged tae Congestion and Pollution
Taxes at a higher rate than personal cars.
 
Let us hope that tax in London brought by the Mayor and the tax proposed
in France become the herbinger of improved environment and higher
human  safety. Thanks Sujit for bringing the matter to our notice. Best
wishes.
 
Kisan Mehta
Save Bombay Committee
620 Jame Jamshed Road,
Mumbai 400014
Tel:  00 91 22 2414 9688





Where The Mind is Without Fear
Rabindranath Tagore

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Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 
By narrow domestic walls
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Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee 
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake 



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