RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: The Supreme Court, in a recent judgement, made it very clear that change of name is mandatory when the vehicle is sold by the owner to another person. This is to avoid any future issues regarding insurance settlement in future. If the transfer is not effected, it is likely to create issues in case of any insurance settlement. The first owner should transfer the ownership of the vehicle in the name of the buyer. If it is not done, and in case of any accident the first owner will be liable to pay compensation to the family of the deceased or injured person.
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 states that the name has to be changed immediately. Though it is known to everybody, most of them are negligent in this aspect.
As far as East Godavari is concerned, there are seven road transport offices in the district. According to RTA officials, around 300 to 350 registrations take place daily and of them 250 to 280 are two-wheelers. As per the information available, there are around 400 private consultancy centres in East Godavari district which sells and buys second hand vehicles.
The business is more in Rajamahendravaram, Mandapeta, Tuni, Amlapuram and Kakinada. The consultants charge `500 and more from both the parties for Transfer of Ownership. Regional Transport Officer V Siri Anand said that before buying second hand vehicle, one should check the complete details including Certificate of Registration, like the name of the owner, chassis number and other details. She further said that when anyone sells the vehicle, both the parties, the seller and the buyer should come to RTA office and sign the documents for transfer of ownership. Then there will not be any problem for both sides.
When vehicle resale means trouble
In many of the recent cases of criminal offences, extremist and illegal activities, the law-enforcing agencies have come across second hand vehicles being used for committing an offence.
The vehicles were used for such activities without transfer of ownership i.e., change of ownership name in the registration certificate. When the vehicles were abandoned after committing the offence, tracing the owner or the offender became impossible. Under such circumstances, the law-enforcing agencies reach a dead end in the investigations.
The people hitherto selling vehicles would have to handover the vehicles only after effecting the name change in the registration records i.e. after completing the procedural formalities with the Regional Transport Office. The sellers have to verify the antecedents of the buyers; if any vehicle was found involved in any offence before transfer of ownership, the police would hold the original owner responsible.
Take care while selling your vehicle
Buyers and sellers of used vehicles should ensure that the ownership of the vehicle (Transfer of ownership – TO) is registered in the name of the buyer. One could apply for a TO in the RTO office on all working days. Vehicles are usually sold in three modes. The owner directly sells it to another person, sells it through a reseller (broker), or exchanges it in showrooms to buy a new vehicle.