Bengaluru Ferrari owner snubs state tax for over a year, ends up paying ₹1.42 crore penalty within hours

A surprising incident came to light in Bengaluru, the IT hub of India. A luxury Ferrari owner was made to pay a ₹1.42 crore penalty for evading road tax. The car in question is worth over ₹7.5 crore. It was intercepted by Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials on Thursday, July 3, morning in Karnataka’s capital.

Registered in Maharashtra, the car owner had reportedly paid a meagre ₹20 lakh in tax, but the vehicle was being used in Karnataka without proper registration since September 2023, News Bytes reported.

The model identified as Ferrari SF90 Stradale was taken into custody near Lalbagh area for dodging Karnataka’s lifetime road tax. A notice was issued declaring that if the dues are not cleared, the car will be seized under the Motor Vehicles Act. Bengaluru South RTO officials gave just a few hours’ allowance to the owner and asked him to clear the dues by the evening.

After the car was flagged by local RTO officials for snubbing state dues, the owner was made to settle the full amount on the same day to release the car, Times Of India reported.

‘Vehicle registered in Maharashtra two years ago’

“In Maharashtra, tax on such cars is a flat ₹20 lakh, but in Karnataka, it amounts to nearly ₹1.5 crore. The vehicle was registered in Maharashtra two years ago. Around 8.30 AM on Thursday, the driver was cruising near Lalbagh. When we stopped the car and asked for documents, he said they were at home. Later, we verified the registration,” the news outlet quoted an official as saying.

According to Karnataka’s lifetime tax rule, out-of-state vehicles are permitted to ply on roads without paying tax for one year, after which owners of the cars registered outside the state must pay the applicable tax otherwise the vehicles will be seized. According to RTO officials the vehicle was being used in the city for over 18 months.