In a move that could act as a major deterrent for car owners, Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai is considering a congestion tax for private vehicles in the Capital. This comes on the back of the AAP Government’s thrust on public transportation through the Car-Free Day and other awareness campaigns.

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The AAP Government has long been emphasizing on public transportation with its campaigns including the Car-Free Day. On the heels of these initiatives, Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai is pondering over a proposal that seeks to enforce congestion taxes for private vehicles. Rai and his PWD colleague Satyender Jain had recently visited to Stockholm which has a similar system in place.

According to the minister, a congestion charge is levied on all private vehicles entering congested zones in Stockholm and this automatically discourages citizens from entering such areas with their cars. A similar system is being mulled over by the transport department according to the minister with a view towards decongesting areas like Patel Nagar, Chandni Chowk, Laxmi Nagar and Karol Bagh.

Stockholm was earlier a city which was heavily congested and polluted and has dedicated lanes for pedestrians, buses, cars and cycles. The minister emphasized on the prevalent need to encourage citizens to not use private vehicles for bettering the city air. Buses run on methane and biogas in Sweden which is generated through plants for garbage treatments. Parking fees are levied through machines and this is another aspect that the transport department in Delhi is considering. As per the minister, a team from Sweden will be visiting Delhi and study the situation on the ground here.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has also recently passed a proposal for revising the one time parking charges and this will steadily lead to an increase in both SUV and car prices in the Capital. The passed proposal will lead to prices increasing by almost INR 6, 000 to 6 lakhs depending on the models in question. Prices of commercial vehicles will be increasing between INR 9, 500 and 36, 000.