Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 28 The Keralam Assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill providing for dedicated yards at the taluk level to store vehicles seized for non-payment of motor vehicle tax, despite opposition objections to the proposed fee structure.
The Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to address the shortage of suitable facilities for safely storing vehicles seized for tax violations, Transport Minister C P John said while replying to amendments proposed by legislators.
The Bill will become law after receiving the Governor’s assent.
Under the proposed system, vehicle owners will have to pay transportation charges for moving seized vehicles to designated yards and parking fees for the period they remain there.
Even if owners produce documents proving that the pending tax has been paid, their vehicles will be released only after they clear the transportation and parking charges in full.
The government will separately determine the rates of these charges. The Bill stipulates that the proposed arrangement will not impose any additional financial liability on the government.
Supporting the Bill, ruling party legislator Sumesh Achuthan said vehicles seized by enforcement agencies were often kept at police stations, where adequate facilities for their upkeep were lacking.
He said dedicated yards should be identified at the taluk level, preferably through public-private partnerships, to ensure the proper maintenance of seized vehicles. However, G R Anil (CPI) and P A Mohamed Riyas (CPI-M) raised objections to the proposed fee structure.
Riyas said that while the Bill provided for the rates and method of collecting the fees, it did not specify any limits on the charges or the criteria for fixing them. This, he argued, would confer excessive powers on the executive.
Taking a dig at the government’s assurances on vehicle modifications during the Assembly election period, Riyas expressed concern that the proposed yards could eventually be filled with modified vehicles.
He alleged that Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s assurances on vehicle modifications had prompted several people to modify their vehicles, only to face penalties later.
Citing media reports, he said Rs 5.7 crore had been collected in fines for such modifications since the UDF government came to power.
Riyas urged the government to inform the public that vehicle modifications could not be permitted beyond the limits prescribed by central laws and Supreme Court judgments.
“Otherwise, the new yards could turn into graveyards of modified vehicles,” he alleged.
Rejecting Riyas’s arguments, John said vehicle modifications were a separate issue and had no connection with the Bill proposing dedicated yards.
“At present, there is no legislation to seize and store vehicles belonging to those who evade tax. Such vehicles are currently being kept wherever space is available. We have brought in a law for that purpose. That is all,” he said.
The minister said the government was not opposed to moderate vehicle modifications that did not pose a safety risk. He said there was no need to link the issue to the proposed yards, which he described as an experiment.
(PTI News)
