GUWAHATI: The Guwahati Municipality Corporation announced the restart of its tax collection from slow-moving vehicles in the city on the basis of their registration.
The administrative organisation had put a pause on the collection of this registration as well as renewal fees for the past six months. As per reports, the city has nearly 8000 registered commercial rickshaws. The city also has about 2000 registered rickshaw vans, 2500 carts, as well as 10000 bicycles used for commercial purposes, registered with the organisation.
Guwahati Municiplality Corporation Mayor Mrigen Sarania spoke about the new development. The mayor said, "We have decided to renew the SMV registration system. The owners of the registered rickshaws, carts, cycles (commercial) will have to pay the tax to the GMC. After registration, the owners of rickshaws will have to pay around Rs 200 yearly, cart owners will have to pay Rs 200 and cyclists (commercial) Rs 50 as tax to GMC. This is similar to a registration certificate (RC) for private two-wheelers and four-wheelers."
An official notification regarding the same will be soon issued by the organisation. Reports published a few days ago suggested that the administrative body is also thinking about banning retrofitting of rickshaws with electric motors.
While the e-rickshaws have comparatively sturdier bodies and better braking systems that use similar electric motors to travel, the normal cycle-rickshaws do not have any such thing. Neither do they have any safety measures or body as such, nor do they have ample braking power to stop the vehicle safety. All combined with the unruly driving styles of the retro-fitted vehicles, they have become a source of concern for both the passengers they carry as well as the pedestrians.
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