Vehicles sans permanent nos. face problems

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 19

The stoppage of the old system of issuing registration numbers to new vehicles from April 30 and the introduction of the new web portal “Vahan” is creating a lot of problems for general buyers and sellers of new vehicles here.

The buyers of new two-wheelers and four-wheelers are not happily plying their vehicles on road as these are without the registration number. Several cars since April 30 can be seen plying on roads without a permanent number. Commuters are left with no option but to move in cars with the number plate bearing “applied for” (A/F) display and there is a continuous fear among them.

It is the problem with most of the districts, as whole system of getting the registration number is becoming web-based. But in the whole process of making it online, the commuters who have got new vehicles and the dealers who are selling the vehicles, are facing different problems.

The dealers said the delay in giving the permanent registration numbers was affecting their sales, as people are not buying the vehicles now. They said they had also been approaching the Regional Transport Office (RTO).

The Tribune talked to officials of the main vehicle dealers in the city. They said the sales had dipped and would further go down if the problem was not solved soon.

“We are also not selling the vehicles to customers out of Jalandhar. The problem is if any accident occurs, the customers won’t be able to take claim,” said an auto dealer.

Varinder Bajwa, RTA, Jalandhar, said the process of the registration of the vehicles was going on and it would get completed in two-three days.

Ashish Trikha, who bought a car on May 3, and is still waiting for the registration number, while talking to The Tribune, said he could not feel the joy of purchasing the new car, as he had to think twice before going anywhere in new car bearing the “AF” display.

“The other day I was to go to Ludhiana along with my family, but without a permanent number, I had to drop the idea because it won’t be possible to cross the toll plaza with the ‘AF’ display,” said Trikha.

Harwinder Singh, ACP, Traffic, said according to the rules, the vehicles cannot move without the permanent registration number for more than 20 days after buying the vehicle and after that challans are imposed.

Officials of the Transport Department said now the customer would have to come to the department only to apply for the registration number and rest would be done online on ‘Vahan’, a website by the Central ministry.

Varinder Bajwa, RTA, Jalandhar, said the data was being shifted to a new software and in a few days, the process would be completed.

Fact file

• It is the problem with most of the districts, as the whole system of getting the registration number is becoming web-based. But in the whole process of making it online, the commuters who have got new vehicles and the dealers who are selling the vehicles, are facing different problems
• Officials of the Transport Department said now the customer would have to come to the department only to apply for the registration number and rest would be done online on ‘Vahan’, the website by the Central ministry