NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Wednesday approved raising a levy on luxury cars and sports utility vehicles to 25 per cent from 15 per cent, news agency Reuters quoted a government official with knowledge of the decision.Under the Goods and Services tax regime, all cars attract a basic GST of 28 per cent. Large cars with engine capacity greater than 1,500 cc and SUVs with length more than 4 metres & engine greater than 1,500 cc attracted additional cess of 15 per cent, but now the cess has been increased by 10 per cent.Several car makers had reduced prices in the range of Rs 1 lakh- Rs 3.5 lakh to pass on the benefit to customers after GST kicked in on July 1. But with government's decision to revise the structure, car makers may pull these benefits off."GST Council in its 20th Meeting held on 5th Aug, 2017 considered the issue that total tax incidence on motor vehicles after GST has come down," the Finance Ministry had said. The ministry had asked the Centre to move legislative amendments to increase the maximum ceiling of cess on vehicles to 25 per cent from 15 per cent.Mercedes-Benz India MD & CEO Roland Folger earlier said that if the cess is increased "prices will be higher than the pre-GST era and all announcements that the GST will be a benefit to the people won't be true."When asked by how much the prices can go up, he had said: "They can go up as high as 5 per cent as compared to pre-GST prices and in this case around the country."YK Koo, MD and CEO of Hyundai India, said that the company will have to pass on the increased cost as the government moves to hike the cess on larger vehicles.