Government to change registration laws of vintage vehicles in India

According to a release by the Ministry, two-wheelers and four-wheelers (personal use) that are more than 50 years old from the date of their first registration (including imported vehicle) are proposed to be called as the Vintage Motor Vehicles. However, only vehicles that have no substantial overhaul including modification in chassis or body shell, and/or engine will be considered as vintage.

It is proposed that all applications for registration shall be applied on “PARIVAHAN" portal.

Further, all States registering authority will appoint a nodal officer who will process all applications for registration of Vintage Motor Vehicles.

States will form a Committee which will inspect a vehicle and declare whether the vehicle is fit for registration under Vintage Motor Vehicle.

If the vehicle is approved, a 10 digit alphanumeric number will be assigned to the respective Vintage vehicle. This registration shall be valid for 10 years. The format for the registration mark will consist of the letters “XX VA YY ****", where VA stands for vintage, XX stands for State code, YY will be a two letter series and “****" is a number from 0001 to 9999 allotted by State Registering Authority.

The concerned authority will charge a fee of ₹20,000 for the registration and subsequent re-registration will cost ₹5,000.

As for resale, if a vehicle is registered as a Vintage Motor Vehicle, the sale and purchase of the vehicle is allowed under certain rules.

Even in terms of general usage, it can only be used under certain conditions. According to the release, a Vintage Motor vehicle is allowed to run on Indian roads only for display, technical research or taking part in a vintage car rally, refueling and maintenance, exhibitions, vintage rallies, to and fro to such exhibition/car rally. With the new laws, the Indian government aims to preserve and promote the heritage of old vehicles in India.