Bicycle owner gets Rs 1.51 lakh road tax notice in UP, know what is the matter

In Dibiyapur municipality in Auraiya city of Uttar Pradesh, a bicycle owner was left stunned when he received a notice to pay road tax worth Rs 1,51,140 from the area’s Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO). Suresh Chandra, a resident of Sehud village near Dibiyapur, owns a bicycle but got slapped with a notice to pay Rs 1.5 lakh as motor vehicle tax for a period between June 2014 and September 2021, a Hindi daily reported.

The note was issued by the ARTO on September 16 and was received by the person three days ago. Not proficient in reading English, Chandra took the notice to neighbours. He found out that a notice had been issued in the name of his 16-year-old son Sudhir.

A security guard at a Dharamshala, Chandra has only one bicycle and his son has none. The notice reportedly also contained the fitness date of the claimed vehicle as November 13, 2012. As per ARTO official Ashok Kumar, such a notice shouldn’t have been issued but an error must have let to the fine being levied on the bicycle owner. He further added that the matter will be thoroughly investigated and action will be taken against persons responsible for the faulty notice.