If you have a vehicle over 15 years old, prepare to pay up. In addition to the regular transport tax that vehicle owners are required to pay, the government has decided to apply an additional 10 percent transport tax on private, government, and public vehicles over 15. The tax, which will increase by 10 percent annually, is part of government efforts to check the increasing air pollution in the Valley.

Environmentalists have welcomed the move. Studies indicate that vehicles account for 60 percent of the air pollution in the Valley, and are a major cause of respiratory diseases. In Kathmandu, over 51 vehicles ply one km of road at any given time. An estimated 20,000 vehicles in the Valley are over 15 years old and another 15,000 are 20 years old.

In an earlier decision, Nepal's Ministry of Population and Environment announced that 20-year-old vehicles, and gas and petrol run three-wheelers operated by two-stroke engines will not be allowed to ply the Valley's roads from 16 November this year.