A vehicle area tax could ease Bengaluru's traffic woes

Abstract

The proceeds from introducing a surcharge on the vehicle area of new cars should be given to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation to meet its revenue shortfall. The annual Budget mela is under way, with the usual flurry of TV talk shows, conferences, statements about what to expect, and recommendations, mostly by policywalas in and around Lutyens’ Delhi. The crescendo will build upto Budget Day and then subside.

The proposal, with growing and influential proponents, globally and in India, is for a Universal Basic Income (UBI). Cash transfers are increasingly replacing complex and wasteful indirect subsidies. The Rythu Bandhu scheme, paying mostly small farmers Rs 4,000 per acre for upto two crops a year, implemented in May 2018, contributed to the huge victory for the incumbent Chief Minister a few months later. With the big national election nearing, some huge spending schemes may be announced in the upcoming Budget. Freebies, whether good or bad, are invariably great vote getters. Read more at: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/iim-bangalore/budget-2019-a-vehicle-area-tax-could-ease-bengalurus-traffic-woes/52367/1