Lockdown effect: Vehicle regns 7k in Mar, 600 in May

Ghaziabad: The Covid-19 lockdown has hit the automobile sector hard, with vehicle sales in the district dropping to an all-time low in April-May. In fact, registration of vehicles, including four-wheelers, three-wheelers and bikes, in Ghaziabad during lockdown fell to just 600 in May from over 7,000 in March.
According to the regional transport department data, sales of four-wheelers under private category fell from 1,473 in March to 284 and 288 in April and May, respectively. Similarly, the sales of two-wheelers fell from 4,686 in March to 288 in May.
“In March, as many as 1,473 vehicles were registered with Ghaziabad RTO under the private motor car category, but the registrations dropped to 288 in May. And under the commercial cab category, 93 vehicles were registered in March but came down to 31 in April and 12 in May.
The sale of two wheelers also dropped to 288 last month from March’s 4,686 figure,” said Ram Ratan Soni, regional transport officer.
There are 19 types of vehicles that get registered with the RTO, which includes agriculture tractors, buses, maxi cabs, e-rikshaws, but in May, there has not been a single registration in at least 12 categories. “In May, vehicles that got registered with the RTO included agriculture tractors, e-rickshaws, bikes and scooters, and three-wheelers. But there were no sales of buses, construction equipment vehicles and goods carrier,” Soni said.
The drop in vehicle registrations has led to a drastic fall in government revenue. “As early as February, we manged to meet 90% of target set by the state government through registration of vehicles that’s around Rs 33 crore. In May, we earned just Rs 4 crore,” the regional transport officer said.