The Indian government will be introducing a digital data bank of vehicles sold across the country starting from October this year in order to smoothen the registration process and has asked automobile manufacturers to provide with the specification of vehicles they sell to customers on a government web portal. While manufacturers have been asked to provide the details voluntarily till October next year; thereon no vehicle will be registered until the details have been provided to the government.
The government needs vehicle specifications including the engine and chassis number, engine capacity, colour and the type of fuel used in the vehicle. The creation of a databank will simplify the registration process of a vehicle and will allow the authorities to verify the information before registering any vehicle. Apart from auto manufacturers, two-wheeler, trucks, tractors, construction equipment and power tillers will also be entitled to upload with the necessary specifications given at the time of sale.
Currently, these details are already provided in Form 20 under Central Motor Vehicles rule. Manufacturers retain this information and already have these details for internal purposes, which are later used in case for a vehicle recall and also for other purposes. The digitisation of details will help curb malpractices in vehicle registration and reduce the rush at transport offices. The databank will also be beneficial to finance and insurance companies that form a major part of the automobile industry.
With all the details in hand, the move has been readily welcomed by manufacturers as it would help in faster and hassle free ownership to customers. Moreover, it will also be hugely beneficial for smooth transfer of second and third ownership of vehicles across India. It will also make state change transfers far easier, once the regional transport offices (RTO) will be equipped with the computerised network. Officials related to the project also suggested the digital databank will also provide details from registration to fitness of commercial vehicles, national permits as well as enforcement of penalties.
Source – Economic Times
