What the RTO actually charges you
Three things, and only the first is large. Road tax is a percentage of the ex-showroom price, set by your state, and it is almost all of what you pay the RTO. Registration is a fixed fee of a few hundred rupees for issuing the number. FASTag is a fixed few hundred more. Every breakdown we checked, in every state, also carries a further 0.18% of the ex-showroom price; we have not traced the notification that sets it, so we bill it and say so rather than give it a name. And 5 states add a levy of their own on top of the road tax — Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan — some a fixed sum and some a share of the tax.
In 26 of the 36 the percentage is not flat: the state runs price slabs, so a dearer car pays a higher rate on the whole price — which is why the same ₹50,000 discount can save you more than ₹50,000 if it drops you a slab. The other 10 charge one rate on a petrol car whatever it costs. And a fixed amount weighs more on a cheap car than a dear one, so where a state adds a flat levy, or sets a minimum tax as West Bengal does, the share of the price it takes can fall as the price rises — that is why some rows below read a lower percentage on the dearer car. Several states also charge diesel cars more than petrol.
Road tax by state, on the same three cars
The identical car, registered in each of the 36 states we cover. Sorted by what the middle car pays. Road tax, the 0.18% charge and any state levy — registration and FASTag are a few hundred rupees everywhere and would just add noise.
| State | ₹4,99,900 car | ₹8,99,900 car | ₹14,99,900 car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | ₹13,3982.7% | ₹24,1182.7% | ₹40,1982.7% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | ₹14,3972.9% | ₹28,6173.2% | ₹55,1973.7% |
| Sikkim | ₹10,8982.2% | ₹28,6173.2% | ₹62,6964.2% |
| Puducherry | ₹20,8964.2% | ₹37,6164.2% | ₹1,07,6937.2% |
| Manipur | ₹20,8964.2% | ₹46,6155.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Nagaland | ₹25,8955.2% | ₹46,6155.2% | ₹77,6955.2% |
| Chhattisgarh | ₹25,8955.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Gujarat | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Himachal Pradesh | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Jharkhand | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Meghalaya | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Mizoram | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹55,6146.2% | ₹92,6946.2% |
| Tripura | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹64,6137.2% | ₹1,22,6928.2% |
| Delhi | ₹22,8964.6% | ₹68,6137.6% | ₹1,56,69010.4% |
| Haryana | ₹25,8955.2% | ₹73,6128.2% | ₹1,22,6928.2% |
| Madhya Pradesh | ₹40,8928.2% | ₹73,6128.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| Odisha | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹73,6128.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| Uttar Pradesh | ₹45,8919.2% | ₹82,6119.2% | ₹1,67,68911.2% |
| Uttarakhand | ₹40,8928.2% | ₹82,6119.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| Jammu and Kashmir | ₹45,8919.2% | ₹82,6119.2% | ₹1,37,6919.2% |
| Ladakh | ₹45,8919.2% | ₹82,6119.2% | ₹1,37,6919.2% |
| Goa | ₹47,6519.5% | ₹84,3719.4% | ₹1,99,44813.3% |
| Lakshadweep | ₹48,3919.7% | ₹85,1119.5% | ₹1,40,1919.3% |
| Punjab | ₹48,3919.7% | ₹87,1119.7% | ₹1,45,1919.7% |
| Assam | ₹30,8946.2% | ₹91,61010.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| Bihar | ₹45,8919.2% | ₹91,61010.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| West Bengal | ₹63,40012.7% | ₹91,61010.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| Chandigarh | ₹50,89010.2% | ₹91,61010.2% | ₹1,52,69010.2% |
| Rajasthan | ₹54,01510.8% | ₹95,23510.6% | ₹1,57,06510.5% |
| Maharashtra | ₹55,88911.2% | ₹1,00,60911.2% | ₹1,82,68812.2% |
| Kerala | ₹50,89010.2% | ₹1,18,60713.2% | ₹2,27,68515.2% |
| Tamil Nadu | ₹60,88812.2% | ₹1,18,60713.2% | ₹2,72,68218.2% |
| Andhra Pradesh | ₹65,88713.2% | ₹1,27,60614.2% | ₹2,57,68317.2% |
| Telangana | ₹65,88713.2% | ₹1,27,60614.2% | ₹2,72,68218.2% |
| Karnataka | ₹74,03614.8% | ₹1,42,46415.8% | ₹2,86,73119.1% |
Petrol cars, ex-showroom Delhi prices. Where a diesel, CNG or electric car is charged differently, the next table shows it.
Where diesel or CNG pays a different rate
The same ₹8,99,900 price, as a petrol, a 1.5-litre diesel and a factory CNG car. In 6 of the 36 states one of them is charged differently; in the other 30 all three pay the petrol figure above.
| State | Petrol | Diesel | CNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | ₹68,613 | ₹84,361 | ₹68,613 |
| Haryana | ₹73,612 | ₹73,612 | ₹59,214 |
| Jharkhand | ₹55,614 | ₹64,613 | ₹55,614 |
| Madhya Pradesh | ₹73,612 | ₹91,610 | ₹73,612 |
| Maharashtra | ₹1,00,609 | ₹1,18,607 | ₹73,612 |
| Rajasthan | ₹95,235 | ₹1,25,607 | ₹95,235 |
Electric cars are the bigger difference. We have read the electric-car rule in 16 states, and in 10 of them an electric car at this price pays no road tax at all. Where we have not read it, our pages charge the petrol rate and say so. The states, their rules and when each concession ends are on electric cars in India.
How much does the state actually change?
On a ₹8,99,900 car, the gap between the cheapest and the dearest state we cover is ₹1,18,346 — Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu charges ₹24,118 and Karnataka ₹1,42,464 on exactly the same car at exactly the same ex-showroom price.
That is the tax alone, on one sample car. For the whole bill on real cars — every car we hold priced in all 36 states, with the widest and narrowest spreads and what each state adds on average.
That is worth knowing and mostly not worth acting on. Road tax follows where the car is registered, which has to be where you can prove you live — registering a car in a cheaper state you have no address in is not a loophole, it is a false declaration. What it is genuinely useful for is planning a move, and for understanding why a quote you were given in one city does not match a friend's in another.
Your car, in your state
Every car we track has a page per state with its own slab table, every variant priced, and where that state ranks for that car against the other 35. These go to the Hyundai Venue, the car in the middle column above — change the car from there.
Or put your own numbers in the on-road price calculator. If you want the rest of the bill explained — insurance, TCS, and which lines a dealer has added that the government has not — that is the companion guide.