From December, no RTO visits for personal vehicle registration in Tamil Nadu
From December 1, authorised dealers can complete registration based solely on documentation. Nearly 80 per cent of personal-use registrations involve two-wheelers, which will now be covered under the relaxed norms. Commercial vehicles, however, will continue to require mandatory inspection at RTOs for registration, officials clarified.
Madras High Court
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will stop requiring new two-wheelers and cars purchased for personal use to be physically produced at Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) for registration from December 1. The directive follows a Madras High Court order and was issued by Transport Commissioner R Gajalakshmi to all RTOs and unit offices.
Until now, owners were compelled to send their newly purchased vehicles, often through dealers, to the RTO for inspection, a process that involved long waiting times and additional charges. With nearly 3,000 to 4,000 personal-use vehicles and up to 8,000 total vehicles registered every day across the State, owners frequently complained of delays and unnecessary expenses.
In a circular dated November 19, Gajalakshmi has instructed all RTOs to stop insisting on the physical production of fully built personal vehicles at the time of registration, following directions from the Madras High Court. The move follows court orders directing the state to implement amendments made by the Centre to the Motor Vehicles Act and CMVR.
Transport Department officials said that under amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, personal vehicles need not be brought for registration. However, this provision had not been implemented in Tamil Nadu. Acting on a petition by the Automobile Dealers Association, the high court directed that the exemption be enforced. A special leave petition filed by the state in the Supreme Court was also dismissed.
From December 1, authorised dealers can complete registration based solely on documentation. Nearly 80 per cent of personal-use registrations involve two-wheelers, which will now be covered under the relaxed norms. Commercial vehicles, however, will continue to require mandatory inspection at RTOs for registration, officials clarified.
Based on the report of the special technical committee, the state has asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to activate the registration workflow for fully built vehicles on the VAHAN portal. Until then, temporary procedures will apply.