Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Tuesday 27 September 2016

One Car per Family ?


Hindustan Times ( 28 Sept 2016 ) carries a news report titled :

Traffic Menace :  HC says restrict cars per family "

The report goes on to read :

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" Considering Mumbai’s nightmarish traffic congestion, it is perhaps time for the state to restrict “the number of cars per family” and moving some of the traffic off the road, to “water”.



The bench asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the state Urban Development Ministry and the traffic police department to sit together and come up with a holistic policy to decongest the city’s roads.



Every household now has more than one vehicle. We are told around 1,000 to 1,300 new vehicles get registered by the RTO each day. A large number of private vehicles enter the city every morning and leave in the evenings, but these have no space for parking through the day. The government cannot sit on the problem anymore,” the bench said. "


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Noble intentions indeed  !



But the questions that arise are :



#   What about millions of families who already have more than one car today ? Can a law force them to sell off
     those extra cars ? Can they be allowed to buy a new car to replace an old / polluting one with an Electric car ?



#   If law cannot force 4 car families to dispose off 3 cars, then would it be fair to deny a NIL car family to buy 2 ?



#   Even if such a law gets passed , is it possible / practical to monitor its compliance in case of some
     2.8 million new cars being manufactured / sold , each year ?  Does the government have the necessary
     administrative machinery to enforce it ?



#   What is the definition of a " family " ? Who is considered a member of a " family " ?



#   What to do in case a person owning a car marries another person , also owning a car ? Or adopts one ?



You see , this gets very messy !



I believe , that ROAD TRANSPORT POLICY , requested by the High Court , should comprise of following elements :



#   GOAL


     To reduce no of vehicles on the roads , in order to speed up travel and reduce pollution



#   POLICY  INSTRUMENTS


     *  Discouragement to manufacture / sale of Petrol / Diesel vehicles



     *  Discouragement for owning of Petrol / Diesel vehicles



     *  Discouragement for " Owning " any vehicle at all



     *  Encouragement for manufacture of Electric Vehicles



     *  Encouragement for " owning " of Electric Vehicles



     *   Encouragement for using " Public Transport " / " Ride Sharing Taxies "




 #    HOW  ?


    Heavy taxation on manufacturers of Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( 50 % Corporate Income Tax  ? )



      *  Heavy " Annual Road Tax " on owners of Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( Rs 5

 lakh/ year , ala SINGAPORE  model )



      *  Heavy taxation when a person buys a Petrol / Diesel vehicle  ( 30 % GST

 ? ), raising " Cost of Owning "



      *  ZERO Corporate Income Tax for manufacturers of Electric Vehicles ( for

 10 years )



      *  Only 5 % GST on sale of Electric Vehicles ( 0 % if vehicle is DRIVER-LESS ? )



      *  No GST ( total exemption ) for purchase of Electric Vehicles by Public

 Transport Companies ( including " Ride

          Sharing Taxies )



      *  Total exemption from Road Tax for Electrically driven , Ride Sharing

 Taxies / Public Transport Buses ,

          enabling them to offer rides at Rs 1 per km ( 2 days back , OLA reduced

 it to Rs 3 per km ! )



     *   Carbon Credit ( thru DBT ? ) of Rs 1 per Km , for both the rider and the 

owner of an Electric Vehicle bases


          Public Transport ( including Ride Sharing Taxies ) , as explained in my

 earlier emails to Shri Nitin Gadkariji :



         *   PUBLICTRANSPORT AS A SOLUTION ?

               {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/02/public-transport-as-solution.html  }

 

         *    RetiringOld Vehicles - Gadkari Style ?

             {  http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/retiring-old-vehicles-gadkari-style.html  }

 

        *    Tabletsin Taxies ?

            {   http://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/05/tablets-in-taxies.html  }

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28  Sept  2016

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 



          

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