According to V B Mathankar, the Transport Commissioner of Maharashtra, nearly 200 vehicles are being hauled up across the state during the drive every day. ``We have recovered over Rs 44 lakh from just 590 vehicles in the last 10 days,'' he claimed.

Even as the drive earned the government revenue through fines, a large number of complaints too have poured in regarding the manner in which the drive is being conducted. Though the department had made it clear that photostat copies of these documents would not be accepted during the drive, majority of vehicle owners claim to be unaware of the fact.

The result of this confusion has been that nearly 50 vehicles are beingimpounded by various RTOs in the city everyday, leaving behind angry owners on the road. According to the Transport Commissioner's office, only those vehicles which don't have proper tax documents are impounded. The one-time-tax, which is usually paid at the time of purchase of the vehicle, has been the major bone of contention between the officers and the public.

Introduced in October 1996, this entails paying of a tax in the range of Rs 8,000 to 20,000 for light motor vehicles. Before the introduction of the scheme, owners used to pay nearly Rs 1,800 as road tax to the government annually. In case of vehicles bought before December 1997, the tax is levied based on the weight of the vehicle.But with the introduction of the new scheme, a lot of owners found it difficult to pay up the huge amount at one go. But the punishment for defaulting on payment is severe. The fine is levied at the rate of two per cent of the tax per month.Jayaram Mani, a member of the Western India Automobile Association (WIAA), wasbooked by the transport officials outside Hotel Oberoi four days ago. ``Though I admit that I had not paid the tax for the last one-and-a-half years, since I was waiting for some clarification from the WIAA, I was surprised when I was fined nearly Rs 9,000,'' he told Express Newsline. Like many others, he too was unaware of the stiff penalty that awaits defaulters.

Doubts also remain on what would happen if the vehicles are stolen, along with the original documents.

``Then please come to us with the photostat copies, we will issue them a duplicate soon,'' said an official.

``It is not as if they have not been accepting photostat copies before, why can't they just take our licence away?'' asked an angry T K Cherian, a resident of Bandra. Officials at the transport commissioner's office opine that the system, based on humanitarian grounds, was discontinued when they found that people were not paying their taxes regularly.