The prices of bikes and cars have been increasing inversely for the last few years. Although there are various reasons for this, the Indian government’s new regulation and tax changes are the reason for the excessive price hike, says Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto.
Yesterday, Bajaj launched their new high-performance bike, the Pulsar NS400Z. The company has also announced that it will launch the world’s first CNG bike next month.
Meanwhile, Rajiv Bajaj has spoken about the price hike of bikes in India. He mentioned the new changes of the Indian government as the reason for the dramatic price hike. He also said that more norms and regulations are being implemented in the Indian automobile market than required.
Government of India Regulations and Pricing:
Rajiv Bajaj said that before the announcements like BS6 emission control norms and mandatory ABS, the Pulsar 150 model was sold for Rs 71,000 and today the same bike model is sold for Rs 1.5 lakh.
In 2019, the Indian government made ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) mandatory for all two-wheelers above 125cc. In the following year (2020), BS6 pollution control norms came into force to replace BS4 norms.
It is reported that due to these new changes, the automakers are also forced to raise prices. Also, Rajiv Bajaj has said that the GST tax on bikes is too high at 28%. He also said that countries like ASEAN countries, Latin America and Brazil do not have GST-equivalent tax rates of only 8-14%. He also requested that the Government of India should consider reducing the GST rate from 28% to 18%.
He said that not only the increase in prices of vehicles, but also due to additional taxes and demanding regulations, various companies have stopped selling some of their models in India. He also said that 150cc bikes with 12 to 14hp power do not need ABS.
Stating that Rs 1 lakh is a huge amount for an average citizen in India, he said his company is exploring ways to reduce the cost of using a bike. Rajiv Bajaj also said that it is for this reason that he is planning to launch CNG bikes.
