Overview
- The state legislature passed an amendment that ends the decade-old road-tax exemption for electric vehicles and introduces a one-time lifetime tax on electric four-wheelers, with the law pending the Governor’s assent.
- The tax is tied to the vehicle’s price at registration with 5% up to ₹10 lakh, 8% for ₹10–25 lakh, and 10% above ₹25 lakh, and electric two-wheelers remain exempt.
- Transport officials project roughly ₹250–259 crore in added yearly revenue and note that Karnataka still taxes internal combustion cars at higher rates of 13% to 18% by price band.
- The bill also trims levies on private buses by cutting per-seat and sleeper-berth taxes to encourage operators to register vehicles in the state.
- BJP leaders criticized the move as making EVs less affordable and warned it could slow adoption in a major EV market that accounts for about 12% of India’s sales.