Alarmed by the fact that a number four wheelers including tankers, private buses, private jeeps, Tata Sumos and trucks continue to evade the annual tax (replaced by one-time tax) levied at the time of purchase of the vehicle, the RTO has initiated a unique campaign this month to recover the tax arrears.

Regional Transport Officer R S Lodhe-Patil told The Indian Express that he had been investigating such vehicles since he joined in December and discovered to his chagrin that a number of such four wheelers continued to slip past the authorities for many years.

Adopting a tough stand on the issue, the RTO has appointed special squads to conduct searches of such vehicles. The squad has trapped a number of vehicles of which 17 have already been auctioned this year. The RTO claimed that this was the first such drastic step taken by the authorities.

``We initially send demand notices to such offenders,'' he explained, adding that if the offenders continued to ignore such notices, the matter is forwarded to the tehsildar who either attaches the property of the offenders or declares the auction on such vehicles if they refuse to pay up the arrears.

Lodhe-Patil cites one instance where the RTO authorities managed to recover arrears of Rs 3 lakh from a private bus. ``We have initially decided to target the big ones - meaning those who owe the RTO tax arrears exceeding Rs 50,000 and above,'' he revealed, however, expressing his inability to provide the exact figure of such vehicles.

Interestingly, the entire exercise is being conducted very discreetly. The general idea is not to disturb the traffic. So our squads are placed at strategic points in the city to apprehend such offenders, he said.

Asked to comment on the manner in which searches are carried out, Patil pointed out that the officials usually demand the papers of the vehicle which are apprehended at certain points. If the papers are in order, the vehicle owner is permitted to leave. However in the remaining cases, the authorities detain the vehicles which are then taken to the RTO compound premises, Patil explained.

Trucks, according to Patil, are the biggest offenders who do not pay their taxes in time which are followed by the private buses. The campaign is expected to be continued till June 30 after which a meeting will be held to review the situation, he explained, adding work on apprehending offenders would continue.

The RTO has initiated cases against 400-odd tankers for violating norms and failing to emission norms or taken measures against leakages in pipes which, according to Patil, could lead to a disaster in storage of chemicals or petrol.