HEAVY OIL MOTOR VEHICLES TAXATION

(1) On and after the 1st day of January, 1936, the registered owner of a heavy oil motor vehicle shall be liable to pay in respect of that vehicle and in the manner hereinafter provided a tax determined in accordance with the rates prescribed in the First Schedule :

Provided, however, that the preceding provisions of this subsection shall not apply in respect of a land vehicle as defined in the Motor Traffic Act-

(2). The tax due in respect of any heavy oil motor vehicle shall be paid in advance either annually or monthly at the kachcheri of the Government Agent having jurisdiction over the place set out in the certificate of registration of that vehicle as the place in which that vehicle is usually kept. Where the tax is paid annually, it shall be deemed to be due on the first day of January and shall be paid on or before the seventh day of January of the year for which the tax is payable ; and where the tax is paid monthly it shall be deemed to be due on the first day and shall be paid on or before the seventh day of the month for which the tax is payable.

(3) Where a heavy oil motor vehicle is registered in the course of any month of any year, tax shall be payable in respect of that vehicle for the whole of the month in the course of which that vehicle was registered and if the registration was effected after the seventh day of that month, the tax shall become due and shall be paid forthwith upon the registration of that vehicle.

(4) No tax shall be payable in respect of a heavy oil motor vehicle proved to the satisfaction of the Government Agent not to have been used for any continuous period exceeding thirty days and the registered owner shall, if any tax has been paid in advance for such period or any part thereof, be entitled to a refund of that tax or to a set-off of the amount so paid against any tax which may thereafter be payable in respect of that vehicle. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to apply to any period of time prior to the date on which any heavy oil motor vehicle is registered.

(5) Any person who pays the tax due in respect of any heavy oil motor vehicle in advance for a whole year or for any unexpired part of a year not being less than two months shall be entitled to a reduction of tax equivalent to five per centum of the total amount due for that year or for such unexpired part of that year, as the case may be, calculated at the monthly rate specified in the First Schedule.

(6) The tax imposed by this Ordinance shall be in addition to any other tax, duty, fee or charge imposed under the Motor Traffic Act, or under any other written law, and shall, when paid, be credited to the Consolidated Fund. [1]

(1) The Registrar of Motor Vehicles and every licensing authority shall furnish to the Government Agent all necessary particulars and information relating to any heavy oil motor vehicle in respect of which tax has to be paid at his kachcheri under the provisions of this Ordinance.

(2) When any tax imposed by this Ordinance on any heavy oil motor vehicle is paid at any kachcheri for the first time in any year, the Government Agent shall issue to the person making such payment a motor tax payment card (hereinafter referred to as a ” payment card “) in acknowledgment of the receipt of the tax so paid.

(3) When any tax imposed by this Ordinance on any heavy oil motor vehicle is paid at any kachcheri other than for the first time in any year, the person making such payment shall, at the time of payment, produce or cause to be produced the payment card relating to that vehicle for endorsement on that card of the payment so made.

(4) Every payment card shall be substantially in the form prescribed in the Second Schedule. If payment of any tax payable in respect of any heavy oil motor vehicle is not duly endorsed on the payment card relating to that vehicle, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such payment has not been made.

(5) The payment card relating to a heavy oil motor vehicle shall at all times be carried on that vehicle and shall forthwith be produced for inspection by the driver thereof on demand made by any police officer or by an examiner of motor vehicles ; and if upon such demand the payment card is not so produced by the driver of the vehicle, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the tax payable under this Ordinance in respect of that vehicle has not been paid at the time of such demand.

(6) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Government Agent that any payment card issued under this section has been lost, torn, defaced or destroyed, the Government Agent may issue a duplicate in place thereof on payment of a fee of one rupee.

(1) Where default is made in the payment of any tax due in respect of any heavy oil motor vehicle under the provisions of this Ordinance, it shall be lawful for the Government Agent to issue to the Magistrate having jurisdiction over the place where the registered owner of that vehicle is resident a certificate specifying the amount so due together with a statement to the effect that the notice required by subsection (2) has been duly served on that registered owner and that a period of seven days has elapsed since the date of service of that notice ; and the Magistrate shall, upon receipt of such certificate and statement, forth-with direct the amount to be recovered as though it were a fine imposed by him on the registered owner of that vehicle ; and such amount may be so recovered notwithstanding the fact that it exceeds the amount of fine which a Magistrate may impose in the exercise of his ordinary jurisdiction.

(2) Before issuing his certificate to the Magistrate under subsection (1), the Government Agent shall, by notice under his hand duly served on the registered owner who is in default, call upon such owner to pay the amount of the unpaid tax within a period of seven days reckoned from the date of service of such notice. Simultaneously with the issue of such notice, the Government Agent may by order under his hand direct any police officer to seize and sequester the heavy oil motor vehicle in respect of which the default has been made, and, upon such seizure, the licence issued in respect of that vehicle under the Motor Traffic Act, shall be deemed to be suspended and shall continue to be regarded as suspended until payment of the amount of unpaid tax or until that vehicle is sold by public auction as hereinafter provided.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in any other written law to the contrary, the Magistrate may, upon receipt of the certificate and statement referred to in subsection (1), direct the heavy oil motor vehicle in respect of which tax is unpaid to be sold by public auction by the Fiscal or by an auctioneer or some other person appointed for the purpose. Any balance remaining out of the proceeds of sale after recovery and payment of the total amount of tax due and of the costs of seizure, sequestration and sale, shall be paid to the registered owner of the vehicle sold. The purchaser of the vehicle at such auction shall be entitled to be registered as the owner of that vehicle and shall by such purchase acquire title thereto free from all encumbrances :

Provided that if at any time before the auction the amount due in respect of tax and costs of seizure, sequestration and sale is paid into court or to such Fiscal, auctioneer, or other person, the sale shall not be held and the vehicle shall by order of the Magistrate be released from seizure and restored to the registered owner thereof.

(4) For the purposes of this section, a notice shall be deemed to have been duly served on the registered owner of any heavy oil motor vehicle if such notice was served on him personally or was sent by registered post addressed to him at the address set out in the certificate of registration of that vehicle. In the case of a notice sent by registered post, the notice shall be deemed to have been received by the addressee on the date on which it would ordinarily have been delivered to him.

(1) No person shall possess or use a heavy oil motor vehicle in respect of which any tax due and payable under the provisions of this Ordinance has not been paid.

(2) Any person who possesses a heavy oil motor vehicle in contravention of the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(3) The registered owner and the driver of any heavy oil motor vehicle which is used in contravention of the provisions of subsection (1) shall severally be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(4) Nothing in this section contained shall apply to the possession or use of any heavy oil motor vehicle under a dealer’s licence.

(1) This Ordinance shall be supplementary to the Motor Traffic Act, and shall be read and construed as one with that Act.

(2) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-