Cars, SUVs may soon become more expensive in Delhi: Report

While automakers have been hiking prices of their vehicles, the cost of buying cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles could soon go have a bigger impact on the pockets of Delhi’s residents. The Delhi Transport Department has proposed an increase in the road tax levied on vehicles for certain categories, as per a recent Live Mint report that cites official sources.  

The sources, as per the report, claim that the proposal for road tax hike for certain types of vehicles has already been forwarded to the finance department by the transport department.

Currently, owners of private vehicles in Delhi have to pay road tax up to 12.5 per cent, which is one the basis of the price range of the car and the type of fuel on which it runs. As per Delhi’s annual budget for 2022-23, the target for the year’s tax and fee collections by the transport department is around Rs 2,000 crore. The report comes amid hikes in prices across models by some of India’s leading automakers due to rising input costs.

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Automakers hike prices

India’s biggest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India on Monday increased prices by 0.9 percent to 1.9 percent across its models. Between January 2021 and March 2022, Maruti Suzuki’s cars had already seen price hikes of approximately 8.8 percent.

Similarly, SUV giant Mahindra & Mahindra increased prices of its models by 2.5 per cent last week. Other manufacturers who have recently announced price hikes are Toyota Kirloskar Motor, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

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