Thiruvananthapuram: The increase in court fees, land taxes, and vehicle taxes, announced in the Kerala budget on February 7, will come into effect on April 1. The finance bill containing the new rates was passed in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The most substantial changes are in court fees. The increase ranges from 500% to over 6500%. A comprehensive revision of court fees has been effected for the fi₹t time in two decades.

Till now the fee for filing a suit for declaration (of possession of property) was ₹1000. It's raised to ₹5000. When relief was sought with reference to any immovable property, the new fee is ₹2500, up from ₹500.

In a suit for the possession or joint possession of trust property, the fee was one-fifth of the market value of the property subject to a maximum of ₹200, and when the property has no market value, ₹1000. This is hiked to ₹ 1000 and ₹10,000.

For a suit for the possession of immovable property under the Specific Relief Act, 1977, the rate was one-third of the market value of the property or ₹150, whichever was higher. This is now ₹10,000.

The existing fee for a suit for relief under Section 14 of the Religious Endowments Act, 1863 or under Section 91/92 of the Code of Civil Procedure is ₹10. It will be ₹ 500 in a munsiff court and ₹1000 in a sub-court or district court.

The fees to petition against the election of people's representatives have also been enhanced. Panchayat member - ₹250 (₹50 existing amount). Panchayat president or vice-president - ₹500 (₹100). Block panchayat member - ₹1000 (₹100). Block panchayat president or vice-president - ₹2000 (₹100). District panchayat member - ₹1500 (₹100). District panchayat president or vice-president - ₹2500 (₹100). Corporation or municipality member - ₹1500 (₹100). Mayor/deputy mayor/municipality chairperson - ₹3000 (₹250).

Nonetheless, there are some reliefs, too. Under the existing Act, a suit filed by a member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe will be admitted without any payment if the annual income of the plaintiff did not exceed ₹12,000 and the amount of the claim did not exceed ₹15,000. From April 1, the annual income limit will be ₹3 lakh, and ceiling for the amount claimed will be ₹10 lakh.

The existing court fee for habeas corpus and Public Interest Litigations filing before the High Court will be exempted from the hike.

Through these revisions, the government hopes to mop up ₹150 crore this fiscal.

Revised Land Tax 
Basic land tax rates in all the existing slabs will increased by 50%. The rate (all in ares, one are is 2.47 cents) in the lowest slab will be increased from ₹5 per are per annum to ₹7.5 and that in the highest slab will be increased from ₹30 to ₹45.

Panchayat areas: Land up to 8.1 ares will be taxed at ₹7.5, up from ₹5. For land above 8.1 ares, the tax rate will rise from ₹8 to ₹12.

Municipal council areas: Land up to 2.43 ares will now be taxed at ₹15, compared to ₹10 earlier. For land above 2.43 ares, the tax will increase from ₹ 15 to ₹22.5.

Municipal corporation areas: Land up to 1.62 ares will now be taxed at ₹30, up from ₹20. For land above 1.62 ares, the tax rate has been hiked from ₹30 to ₹45.

Travel Bonanza 
From April 1, as part of simplifying the tax structure, the quarterly tax on contract carriages registered within Kerala will be ₹350 for all carriages with seat capacity of 6 to 12. As it stands, there are differential rates of ₹280 per ordinary seat, ₹450 for pushback and ₹900 per sleeper.

Quarterly tax on contract carriages with seat capacities of 13 to 20 will change from the existing rates of 480 per ordinary seat, 680 per pushback and 1350 for sleeper to a common rate of ₹600.

Quarterly tax on contract carriages with seat capacity of 20 and above will change from the existing rates of 680 per ordinary seat, 900 per pushback and 1800 per sleeper to a common rate of 900.

The quarterly tax on heavy passenger sleeper berth buses at present is ₹1800. From April 1, this will be reduced to ₹1500 per sleeper berth per quarter. The state is expected to earn ₹15 crore a year from these revisions.

Reducing the rates for high-end vehicles is expected to encourage comfortable travel.

Road Tax
To discourage their use, the road tax on two wheelers, private three-wheelers and private motor cars older than 15 years will increase by 50%.

Electric Vehicle Shock
The 'Life Time Road Tax' for electric vehicles is now 5% of the vehicle cost. From April 1, it will be 8% for e-vehicles costing more than ₹15 lakh and 10% for priced above ₹20 lakh.