SHILLONG: In a major relief for commercial vehicle owners and drivers across the state, the Government of Meghalaya on Thursday officially launched the One-Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme, 2026.
This newly introduced scheme aims to significantly reduce and waive long-pending tax dues and penalties, offering substantial financial support to the local transport sector.
The initiative is designed to resolve long-standing tax issues affecting approximately 65,000 vehicles registered under the Motor Vehicle Tax, 12,642 vehicles under the Goods and Passenger Tax, and over 57,000 vehicles facing heavy penalties due to the non-renewal of their fitness certificates.
In total, the state government intends to benefit more than 1.3 lakh commercial vehicles across Meghalaya by offering massive waivers on accumulated penalties that have piled up over the years.
The tax settlement scheme was officially launched by Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister, Sniawbhalang Dhar, during a meeting held at the Secretariat in Shillong.
The primary objective behind this move is to ease the heavy financial burden currently carried by commercial vehicle owners and drivers, while simultaneously allowing the state government to recover past-due revenues through a systematic and streamlined process.
According to government estimates, the accumulated arrears and penalties across various categories have reached a staggering ₹900 crore.
Through the implementation of this OTS scheme, vehicle owners are being given a golden opportunity to update their documents and clear their outstanding taxes with the added advantage of substantial penalty waivers.
Under the specific guidelines of the new scheme, the government will waive up to 90 percent of the penalties related to the non-renewal of fitness certificates, while an 80 percent waiver will be granted on penalties associated with both the Motor Vehicle Tax and the Goods and Passenger Tax.
Highlighting the scale of the backlog, Transport Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar pointed out that there are around 65,000 vehicles defaulting on motor vehicle tax, 12,642 vehicles lagging behind on goods and passenger tax, and more than 57,000 vehicles with outstanding fitness certificate penalties.
He noted that these figures reflect a long-term accumulation of unpaid dues and a lack of compliance with transport sector tax regulations over several years, which has historically burdened both the vehicle owners and the Transport Department as a whole.
Government officials further explained that in many instances, the accumulated penalties had actually outgrown the original tax amounts due, making it extremely difficult and financially stressful for operators to regularize their vehicle documents.
The government highly anticipates that the OTS scheme will instantly remove these roadblocks, particularly for small and medium-scale commercial vehicle owners who operate on tighter budgets.
Furthermore, the initiative is expected to boost overall tax compliance within the transport sector, encourage the timely renewal of vehicle fitness certificates, and ultimately strengthen regulatory oversight moving forward.
Officials emphasized that the scheme was specifically designed after understanding the practical ground realities and hardships faced by operators, drastically slashing heavy fines to make it viable for them to return to regular tax compliance.
