Hyderabad: The Telangana government will be imposing a one-time road safety cess on vehicles that will be registered in the state from March 1, with the Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2026, coming into effect.
With this amendment, non-transport vehicles like motorcycles will have to pay Rs 2,000 and light motor vehicles (except tractors and tractor-trailers used for agricultural purposes) will have to pay Rs 5,000.
All other vehicles will have to pay Rs 10,000. Three-wheeled contract carriages, such as passenger auto rickshaws, with seating capacities of four, five, six and seven, will be exempt from the Rs 10,000 cess.
Additionally, any new four-wheeled light goods carriages being registered in the state will attract a life tax of 7.5 per cent of the entire cost of the vehicle, replacing the quarterly tax system.
If the vehicle is being registered in Telangana from another state, it will attract a tax of 6.5 per cent of the vehicle’s cost if the vehicle is less than three years old.
Vehicles that are more than three years but less than six years old will attract a tax of 5 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and vehicles more than six years will be levied a tax of Rs 4 per cent of the entire cost of the vehicle.
Old in-use vehicles will continue to pay the quarterly tax.
The Telangana Assembly had passed the Act on January 2 this year. Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar had said that the tax collected through the law will be deposited in a special account and will be used to enhance road safety in the state.
“The law is already being implemented in Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states. Telangana would also have automatic driving testing stations like those in Delhi,” Prabhakar said in the Assembly.
