Shoma Patnaik
Panaji
Amid tax sops given by the government to encourage scrapping of old vehicles, officials at the state’s only registered vehicle scrapping facility (RVSF) in Madkai have called for a check on the numerous unregistered scrapyards that pose a hurdle to the implementation of the Vehicle Scrappage Policy of
Goa, 2023.
“Goans are interested in scrapping their old cars. The response to our facility, which was slow at first, has now picked up. However, the problem in the policy taking off is the presence of unregulated scrapyards that are dismantling vehicles unsustainably and not contributing to government revenue,” said Tushar
Garg, director of Mangal Iron Pvt Ltd, the operator
of the RVSF.
He said that the activities of unlicensed scrap dealers are going unchecked as they neither pay GST nor comply with the regulations of the Factories & Boilers Department, the State Pollution Control Board, or any other government authority.
“Any RVSF operating in India is not allowed to sell vehicles. The facility has to dismantle the vehicle and sell the parts. It needs to maintain an inventory of the engine number and chassis number and keep it for audit for 12 months. The RVSF drills holes in the engine blocks so that they cannot be resold. These norms, however, are not followed by the unlicensed scrapyards. They are procuring vehicles openly in cash or even reselling them in tier-2 or tier-3 cities, perhaps with forged documents or forged number plates,” said Garg.
He pointed to the proliferation of scrapyards along highways that pay Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 for the junking of old vehicles.
The state’s RVSF, located in Madkai Industrial Estate, started in December 2024 and has moved from scrapping only 25 vehicles a month to 150 vehicles a month at present. The installed capacity of the facility is 2,500
vehicles per month.
The RVSF provides vehicle owners with documents, including a certificate of deposit that is valid for two years and offers discounts in road tax, waiver of registration fee when buying a new car, and the scrap value of the old vehicle. The tax benefit amounts to 25 per cent of the road tax or up to Rs 75,000 for a private vehicle, and 15 per cent exemption for a
transport vehicle.
“The certificate of vehicle scrappage issued by the RVSF indicates that the scrapping is done scientifically. Illegal scrap yards are not following pollution laws in disposing of oil and hazardous waste,” said Garg.
He added that the incentives provided by the government are encouraging, which is why more vehicle owners are approaching the RVSF for scrapping.
Goa has about 1.92 lakh vehicles, both government and private, that are fit for scrapping. In the next five years, an additional 3.5 lakh vehicles will cross the age of 15 and become
due for scrapping.
