The Nagpur City Regional Transport Office (RTO) has blacklisted 23 luxury vehicles and issued e-challans as it investigates suspected evasion of Maharashtra’s Motor Vehicle Tax by cars registered outside the State. Kiran Bidkar, Regional Transport Officer, Nagpur City, said the vehicles were blacklisted to prevent further documentation-related transactions until the investigations are completed. It is learnt that the RTO is now examining service histories at authorised manufacturer service centres, FASTag transactions, insurance documents and Pollution Under Control (PUC) records before issuing tax demands. It may be mentioned that the practice involves buying luxury cars in Nagpur but registering them in States or Union Territories with lower road tax, such as Daman and Diu, Chandigarh and Punjab, for the initial tax outgo. Under Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, a vehicle plying in another State for more than 12 months must generally be re-registered in the RTO in that particular State. 

 

 

Bidkar explained how the tax differential between Maharashtra and the Union Territories (UTs) like Daman and Diu is significant. He said Maharashtra levies 13 per cent road tax on petrol cars and 15 per cent on diesel cars registered in individual names, including completely knocked-down (CKD) units, while the rate is 20 per cent for imported vehicles and cars registered in the name of companies or Corporations. In Daman and Diu, the road tax is around 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent, depending on the fuel type, he said. The vehicles under scrutiny include German luxury brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

 

Priced between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, such branded vehicles could attract tax liabilities in the ranges of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh each, subject to assessment, Bidkar added. A vehicle intercepted near Deekshabhoomi, recently, was ‘BMW X1 sDrive18i M Sport’, priced at around Rs 67 lakh on-road in Nagpur. It was reportedly intended for registration in Daman and Diu with a temporary registration number. Bidkar said the department was following due legal procedure to ensure its action could withstand any challenge in court. The investigation follows the identification of 307 high-end vehicles purchased in the district but registered in other States during 2025-26. The reported State-wide figure stands at around 6,600 vehicles.