A new ‘IN’ series vehicle registration system has been proposed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
Through a series of tweets MoRTH revealed the new draft rules which it claims will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across any State of India upon relocation to a new State.
The Road Transport Ministry admits that re-registration of a vehicle while moving from one State to another is one of the pain points in the current vehicle registration process.
As things stand, under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, a person is allowed to keep a vehicle for 12 months in any State other than the State in which it was registered. But, a new registration has to be made within that period.
Since relocation occurs with both government and private sector employees, such movements “create a sense of unease in their minds regarding transfer of registration from the parent State to another State”, the ministry states.
Initially the scheme will be available on pilot test mode to personnel of defence, Central or State governments, Central or State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and private companies or organisations that have offices in 5 or more States or Union Territories (UTs).
Such personnel, who are subjected to frequent transfers between States, will be allocated IN series license plates for free interstate travel.
Drafted as part of citizen centric steps, under the proposed IN series vehicle registration system, the motor vehicle tax will be levied for 2 years or in multiples of 2.
However, the ministry has not provided more information with regard to tax collection and the charges. It is not known if the new State to which an official has moved with collect the road tax or if it will be levied directly by the Centre.
States and UTs have been asked to offer their comments with regard to the matter.
