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Can Cantonment charge for entry of vehicles

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The Belgaum Cantonment board recently made an announcement that from April 1, all vehicles en-trying the cantonment area will have to pay a tax.

The said tax has been imposed under the Section 67 in The Cantonments Act, 2006.

This section 67 of the Cantonments Act, 2006 refers to the Charging of fees. And in it sub sec a- mentions license fee on vehicles and animals.

But the notable fact to this act is Section 66 General power of taxation.

Which has a clause which reads “ In addition to the taxes specified in sub- section (1) the Board may, for the purposes of this Act, impose any tax which under any enactment for the time being in force may be imposed in any municipality in the State in which the cantonment is situated

Now this is very important and the same has been quoted by a court order as well then under the case of Ramgarh Cantonment board Vs State of Jharkhand and others.

In its order in the above case the court said that, Cantonment board cannot levy the tax which cannot be levied by the Municipality. Further it said that, The cantonment board did not have any authority or competence to levy tax on entry of vehicles in the cantonment area under Sec 60 of the Cantonments Act of 1924.

In Belgaum the tax has been imposed U/s 67 of The Cantonments Act, 2006 which is fairly similar to the sec 60 of the Cantonments Act of 1924.

Above all this tax collection is not practical and will cause many a hardships to commuters.

Read about the sections mentioned.

Cantonments Act, 1924

60.General power of taxation:-

(1) The Board may, with the previous sanction of the {Subs.by the A.O.1937 , for ” L.G.” } [Central Government], impose in any cantonment any tax which, under any enactment for the time being in force, may be imposed in any municipality in the State wherein such cantonment is situated:

{The proviso to sub-section (1) was rep.by the A.O.1937.}

(2) Any tax imposed under this section shall take effect from the date of its notification in the Official Gazette.]

Comment: Municipality could levy a tax on Motor Vehicles entering the limits of the Municipality, the same couldbe levied by the Cantonment Board exercise of its power under section 60 of the Cantonments Act with the previous sanction of the Central Government. Consequently, notifications issued by the Cantonment Boards of Mhow, Jabalpur and Saugar were valid notifications issued under Section 60 of the Cantonments Act and imposition of tax on Motor Vehicles entering into the limits of the Cantonment Boards cannot be said to be invalid or inoperative. Cantonment Board, Mhow v. M. P. State Road Transport Corpn., AIR 1997 SUPREME COURT 2013

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KRV gave a memorandum to the Cantonment regarding this issue today

Section 67 in The Cantonments Act, 2006 [“Complete Act”]

Central Government Act

67. Charging of fees.- The Board shall, for the purposes of this Act, charge the following fees, namely:-

(a)licence fee on vehicles and animals;

(b)licence fee on advertisements other than advertisements in newspapers;

(c)fee relating to maintenance of property records;

(d)processing fee on buildings payable along with application for sanction of the building plan;

(e)licence fee on entry of vehicles;

(f)betterment fee on the increase in land value caused by the execution of any development work; and

(g)such other fee which the Board may by regulation specify: Provided that the fee charged under clause (g) of this section shall not be less than the cost incurred by the Board for or in connection with the specific service to which the fee relates.

11 thoughts on “Can Cantonment charge for entry of vehicles”

  1. this seems to be one of the most absurd idea, causing huge traffic back logs chaos on roads and loss of time wastage of fuel and immense suffering to the people of belgaum, I wonder if any thinking as gone in to the issue, or our babus so insensitive that they do not care.
    the Cantonment and the city is so much intergrated that you cannot implement a plan like this, without causing traffic chaos.
    any way the cantoment is a vestage of the colonial era and that too by a mercenary army who unsurped the local land and properties.Its a pity that this statue still exists in the rule books.
    Its about time the Cantoment is merged with the muncipality so that a intergrated town planning can be done

    Reply
  2. I have bit different view on this. Anything that is FREE has got no value. I mean no one bother to care about. Be it free education, food, parking, civic amenities etc. Such type of taxes/fees are necessary to maintain the dignity and pride.
    No one will care if BMW or a Benz car is sold at Rs.1lakh. So let us not make CAMP AREA like Khanapur Rd or Khade Bazar Rd. So Think out of Box and feel proud and enjoy the clam & sceneric beauty whenever you will visit this area in your private vehicle after paying toll.

    I suppose the toll is not for 2 wheelchair, Govt Vehicle, School Bus, Framer(Tractor, Milk-Van) etc.

    Reply
    • Hello Vidhuindian,
      I guess u are not staying in belgaum. Tolls are generally collected on Highways , where the Higways are built on BOT principle. this road maintainance will not be transferred to anybody, then why ask for taxes? and CAMP AREA is in Belgaum, so its no different. asking for more taxes is a pain for the common man directly or indirect. So i think we should all oppose this.

      Reply
  3. its the vehicle entry 'fee' that the cantonment board is imposing. not 'tax'. so the question of whether a similar tax is being imposed in neigbouring municipality does not arise. ramgarh cantonment board case has no relevance here as it deals with 'tax' and not 'fee'.

    Reply

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