Amritsar: Vehicle owners unable to install high-security registration plates

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 16

As many as 24 persons who purchased vehicles between 2017 and 2018 have been unable to get high-security number plates and renew insurance of their vehicles.

Reason: The owners cannot find any registration record related to their vehicles on ‘Vahan’ portal of the ministry of road transport and highways.

Vikas Khanna, who had purchased a car in 2018, said there was negligence on the part of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) in Amritsar, which probably did not register his vehicle on ‘Vahan’ portal.

“I had submitted all the required documents on November 24, 2020 and till date the status of my application to register my car on ‘Vahan’ portal is pending. Even after sending seven reminders to the State Transport Commissioner, Punjab Transport Department, Technical Director, National Informatics Centre and meeting Joyti Bala, RTA, Amritsar, nothing has materialised so far,” said Khanna.

According to information, due to some technical glitch, registration record of around 83 vehicles was not updated on ‘Vahan’ portal. “We cannot get the high-security number plates as data is not available on the portal. Vehicle owners are always under constant fear of getting in trouble with the traffic police. Even renewal of insurance of such vehicles will not be done if their details are not available on ‘Vahan’ portal as insurance firms cross check the details.”

State Transport Commissioner Dr Amarpal Singh said, “We have issued several public notices to check details of vehicles on the ‘Vahan’ portal and in case data is found missing , one must inform us. These people did not respond on time. Now, we have pursued the matter with national authorities and the data will be updated on ‘Vahan’ portal within two weeks.”