Vehicle Ownership Transfer Rules: Owners Can Now Nominate A Legal Heir For Vehicles

Certain changes with regard to vehicle ownership transfer have been made to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has notified.

The changes facilitate the owner of a vehicle to add a nominee in the certificate of registration, which in the case of death of the owner would see the ownership of the motor transferred to the nominee.

It was back in 27th November 2020 when MoRTH proposed to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules with regard to the same.

In the case the owner of a vehicle dies, the revised vehicle ownership transfer rules state the person nominated by the vehicle owner in the certificate of registration can use the vehicle as his own for 3 months from the death of the automobile’s owner.

That is, provided that the person has informed the registering authority of the occurrence of the death of the owner, and of his intention to use the machine, within 30 days of the death of the vehicle owner.

Within 3 months, the nominee shall apply in Form 31 to the registering authority for the transfer of ownership of the vehicle in his name.

According to the notified rules, existing vehicle owners can add a nominee through an online application while owners of new vehicles can do so at the time of registration of the vehicle by submitting proof of the identity of the nominee.

Also, the owner can change the nominee in case of divorce or division of property by following an agreed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the notification stated.

This revised vehicle ownership transfer rule should reduce the hassle of transferring the ownership of a vehicle in the case the vehicle owner passes away.