Registration of Imported vehicles.

Whenever an imported vehicle is produced for Registration, the formalities to be observed are as follows:-

As usual with all the forms as we require for a new registration, a customs clearance certificate should be enclosed.

The customs clearance certificate should specifically state whether it is a CBU or scrap. CBU means completely built unit. If it is scrap there is no provision to register the same.

Some importers to evade customs duty bring the vehicle in parts. We should be careful in verifying the documents.

We should ascertain from the customs department whether the receipt produced is genuine and whether the duty paid is correct.As the tax has to be calculated based on the value of the vehicle, we should check the veracity of the customs clearance certificate.

With reference to the approval about the vehicle, Central Government have clarified,that we have to refer the DGFT i.e. director general of foreign trade. If the vehicle is already approved in other countries, we can take it as homologation. Homologagion means official approval

We should check with the website of the company and take a print out about the specification of the model produced.

As far as tax is concerned as per G O Ms 301 Home (Tr.I)Dept dated 19.2.2004 it is specified as follows:" In the case of vehicle imported from outside India, the cost of vehicle means the total price as evidenced from the bill of entry for Home consumption"
Refer Rule 47 (h)of Central motor vehicles Rules 1989
Notification No GSR 83(E) dated 5.2.2003

Vehicles purchased in public auction - Issue of R C

In Departments like police, forest the vehicles seized by them are sold in public auction.

Some people buy these vehicles . How to transfer the vehicles to the purchaser.
Three type of cases come out of this situation.We will deal one by one.

Where the R C is available.
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If the vehicle is sold with the RC then the person who purchased it shall produce form 32 with the order copy of the sale, a copy of the order giving his name as a successful bidder and other documents for transfer like residence proof, insurance etc.
Then the Registering authority has to transfer the vehicle in the name of the department which sold the vehicle and then to the name of the purchaser.

Where there is Reg. No. but not the RC
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If there is vehicle number but not the RC, we have to request the O R A of the vehicle informing him the details and if the chassis number and the engine number tallies, we have to advise the successful bidder to get the RC in the name of the department which sold the vehicle from the ORA and then transfer the same to his name.

If the vehicle is held under HP

If there is hire purchase agreement in the RC, we need not worry as when the Govt. confiscates the vehicle, the financier loses his title and he cannot claim anything.  So when  the vehicle becomes a Govt. property, then the HP agreement automatically stands cancelled.  So we have to issue the RC in the name of the Govt. without HP agreement.
Vehicle without Registration Marks.
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If there is no Reg. No or the Reg No is false then we have to register the vehicle afresh in the name of the department and then make transfer entries in the RC book.
How to calculate the Tax
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To calculate the tax we should get an invoice of the vehicle from the dealer and after ascertaining the model we have to work out the percentage (Act 30/2008)
Cost of the vehicle NEVER means the purchase value which the buyer pays to the department.
Cost of the vehicle means the total price paid at the time of purchase as ascertained from the authorised dealer or manufacturer as the case may be (Refer G O Ms 650 Home (Trpt 1) dated 31.7.2003
Also refer Rule 57 of CMVR 1989

National Permit - Addition or deletion of States

A question always arises in mind about national permit is when to add or delete States. Can a state be deleted or added in the middle of an authorisation period. The answers lie in a recent Government Order.

A notification issued by the Government in G O Ms 1625 Home (TR III) Department dated 12.12.08 clears all the doubts about the authorisation and addition of states etc.

The details are
1. The composite tax is paid in one lump sum at the time of applying for n.p.
It should be renewed on a yearly basis.

2. The renewal can be made by an application 15 days prior to the expiry of the existing authorisation. The penalty for any delay is Rs.100/- per month or part there of. The penalty shall be calculated from the date prior to 15 days of expiry of existing authorisation.

3. Variation of national permit by including a new state can be done anytime during the authorisation period., provided the composite tax is paid fully and not on pro rata basis.

4. The composite tax is payable so long as the authorisation is valid.

5. We have to collect fee for inclusion and fee for deletion while making any variation. It means if an applicant wants to delete a state and include a state and apply for variation, we have to collect fees for both deletion and inclusion. If he applies only for deletion, only one fees.,for inclusion only one fees, but if he applies for both deletion and inclusion then two variation fees has to be collected with one service charge.

Badge - Nuances.

Badge, an authorisation to drive a transport vehicle if some one wants to obtain now, he has to pass minimum eight standard.Rule 8 of the Central Motor vehicles Rules 1989 prescribes this.

Before 1989, the qualification for obtaining an authorisation to drive a transport vehicle was, the applicant should be able to read and write .

The Government of India has issued a notification in GSR 583 (E) dated 21.9.06

By this notification it has reintroduced Rule 8 which prescribes a pass in eighth standard as a qualification for obtaining an authorisation to drive transport vehicle.

In practice a large number of candidates are coming with certificates indicating that they have passed eighth standard.

How to trust the credentials of the certificate.

There are certain simple tests:-
1. Give the candidate a tamil magazine or newspaper and ask him to read. If he reads fluently, take it for granted that the certificate is genuine one
2. You can address the Chief educational officer of the district to know whether such a school exist.If you write to that school, the chances are you may get bogus confirmation.
3.If the candidate is not able to read the script, you can straightaway reject the application writing on the border of the paper "unable to read Tamil and hence application is rejected".
Because in law there is no appeal provision against such rejection.

So instead of merely relying on the certificate we have to be extra careful in believing the truthfulness of the certificate.

Double Jeopardy

Double jeopardy is a legal term.

There is a very famous Hollywood movie by this title. Just little digress.

A wife is charged with the murder of her husband. She pleads not guilty. She feels that some one is trying to implicate her in this case as she has not committed any murder.

However the court held that she is guilty and sentenced her.

After completing her jail term she vows to find out, the mystery behind this. She eventually found her husband alive in a far off place with a lady of his choice. She enticed him to a secluded spot and murders him.

The case goes to court. The judge held that she is guilty but let her off as she has already served the sentence for the same offence. For one and the same offence one person cannot be convicted again.

This is called double jeopardy.

For this state good vehicles which goes to other States and for the offences noticed in that state, if the permit holder paid the fine in that state, he cannot be made to compound the offence again in this state. That is precisely to say the fine paid at the other end would be suffice and he need not shell out again here.

Transport commissioner Chennai in Circular No. 13/94 in letter no G3/76251/94 dated 5.2.1994 stress this point.

How to Allot Registration Marks - Serials ?

The Government allots Registration Marks to respective Regional Transport Offices.

For eg. if TN 90 is alloted to a particular Office, then the R T O has to allot serial marks to his office and also to Unit offices.

For his office he may start with A, B, C etc. For Unit offices he may allot from the last of the alphabets . i.e. Z. If Z is exhausted for the unit office then he may allot AZ, if AZ is exhausted then it is BZ . It goes on like this . Z remains constant for that office.

If there are two or three unit offices he may allot
for unit office 1, Z, AZ, BZ, CZ
for unit office 2, Y, AY, BY, CY.

He should not allot after AZ, AY, or AX
even if there is only one unit office.
The Z factor remains constant for that unit office until all the letters in the alphabet like BZ, CZ, are exhausted.

Refer:- circular no. 45/2007

EIV and PSV - permission to operate in adjacent District

Generally EIV and PSV permits are granted to ply within the District.,for carrying students or staff to their respective destination.

Nowadays students from far and near study in such institutions. If the institution is very near to an adjoining district then then students from other districts also study in such institutions.

If such vehicles are issued with district permits how they can operate in the neighbouring districts?

Transport Commissioner, Chennai in circular no. 10/2002 has permitted the extension of EIV and PSV permits to adjacent districts also. So when a college or company wants to extend their area of operation to an another neighbouring district, simply they have to apply before the RTO who has issued the permit. The RTO after verifying the need can extend the validity of operation to one adjoining district.

Points to Ponder
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1. The extension must be granted by the permit issuing authority
2. The extension must be only to one district .

Issue of P S V permits - lease agreement.

PSV permits are issued to companies to ferry their staff from their homes to office and for return.

There are companies which may not have their vehicles. In such cases the companies can take vehicles standing in individual's name on lease, and we can issue psv permits to such a vehicle.

It works like this.The owner should enter into a lease agreement with the company and with the copy of the agreement he can submit form 34 to the office with fees and the office can enter the lease agreement in the RC book.Like Hire purchase we can also make lease agreement. Even if the vehicle is with HP agreement there is no bar to enter the lease agreement as lease and hire purchase are entirely different.

After that the application for the permit shall be made by the company and we can issue the permit to the company with the above vehicle.

Points to be noted
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1. vehicle shall be in anyone's name, but lease agreement must be entered in the RC book.
2. permit should be in the name of the company.
3. tax as usual for psv permits.

Refer:- Letter from Government of Tamil Nadu in MS 799 dated 3.9.1992 and also Endt from Transport Commissioner in 94864/A4/2001 dated 31.10.2002

Composite Tax - Penalty provisions

Composite tax means the tax paid by other state N.P.vehicles to operate in this State and vice versa.

If a composite tax is not paid in time how much penalty has to be collected ? What is the relevant rule that fixes the penalty.

Rule 7 of the T.N.M.V.T.Rules 1989 specifies that the composite tax has to be paid 15 days prior to its expiry date.

Rule 8 (4) of the same Rules state that the penalty is Rs.100/- per month or part there of.

So if an authorisation expires on 10.6.2009, the last date for presenting the application is 26.5.2009, if the application is made on or before 26.5., there is no need for any penalty.

If the application is made after 26.5.2009 but before 31.5.2009, then the penalty is Rs.100/- for each state.

If it is made at any time in June then the penalty for each state is Rs.200/-

Like wise it goes up.

For this state N.P.vehicles having authorisation to ply in Kerala State the penalty should be calculated as follows:

For first 30 days after the prescribed period 10%
within 90 days after the p.p. 20%
within 180 days after the p.p. 25%
after 180 days 50%

( please refer circular no. 34/2006)

Omni bus - Grant - Ordered.

Now the Regional Transport Authorities can grant omni bus permit

How?

The Government during 1990's have permitted the RTAs to grant omni bus permits.

Subsequently by a Government order No.1445 Home Department Dated 20-9-1991 banned the issue of omni bus permits.

Now the Government have revoked the ban and permitted the grant of omni bus permits by an order dated june.9

Now some points to ponder1.

1. Regional Transport Authority is competent to grant the permit

2. We can grant only district wide permit

3. Tax rate is Rs.3000/- per seat per quarter

RTO New post New duties To perform better

This department has seen a spate of promotions. The new postings carry lots of responsibilities. Though many are aware of the responsibilities, the list below outlines certain important duties and the art of getting the better out of everyone.

1.Daily closing the accounts
__________________________________ The account should be daily closed. The fees and tax collection is over by one'o clock the account can be closed daily. This is the prime responsibility. During closing avoid signing monotonously. Make a cross check.Even when there is a doubt clarify with the accountant.

2.Replying to the tapals
------------------------ We may receive lot of letters from the higher officials. Some may require our urgent attention. Classify the tapals as urgent, important and routine.
Top priority should be given to urgent papers.
The officer should maintain a dairy and note the details of the tapal. He may write in a corner of the tapal specifying the time of reply that it requires. like tomorrow ten a.m. He should note in a diary about this and if the reply has come, he can round it off other wise he has to call the staff concerned and remind the same. In such way the tapals can be disposed. Please see personally the reply is dispatched.In some cases the reply may be ready but not dispatched.
3.Never sign anything without reading and understanding
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One basic requirement is just go through the letter or note sheet carefully. Understand the context. If you feel it is o.k. then sign it. Beware especially when you sign to higher officers. the spelling mistake, grammar mistake may some times paint us badly.
4.General
------------ conduct meeting with the staff members quite often and express your expectation
Never listen to gossip.
Always believe your heart.it will never let you down.Call every one by name.
Have good interpersonal relations. That will run the office well
Best of luck.

Temporary Registration - collection of tax

Refer:- Circular no. 46/04
G O Ms 969 Home Tr.I department dated 16.10.2002
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Whenever a vehicle is brought for new registration, we check the validity of temporary registration.

At times, the temporary registration might have expired.

In such cases a doubt arises regarding the nature of tax and fees to be collected.

In G O Ms no. 969 Home Tr.I Dept dated 16.10.2002 the rate of tax to be collected for temporary registeration vehicles have been specified.

It is 2% of of the life time tax

The previous way of collecting the ulw tax was dispensed with as per the above government order.

So whenever a vehicle is brought for registration where the temporary registration is expired, we have to collect the tax and fees as follows:-

a) tax at the rate of 2% of life time tax
b) fees c)late fees where applicable.

composite tax - the myth

Refer: circular No. 32/98 , 34/06
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In G O Ms 1265 Home Transport department dated 12.12.08 the Government of Tamil Nadu has raised the composite tax for all the other state national permit vehicles from Rs.3000/- to Rs.5000/-.

Already the Government of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhrapradesh have raised the composite tax from Rs.3000/- to Rs.5000/-

One big question arises now is whether the concessional rate of tax granted to multi axle vehicles in G.O.Ms.238 Home (Trpt.III) dated 5.3.1998 is applicable to other state vehicles.

The G.O.referred above clearly states that the concessional rate is on reciprocal terms.

In ordinary parlance, if you give the concession to our state vehicles, we would do the same to your state vehicles.

Andhra and Karnataka have not extended any concession to multi axle vehicles. So the tax due for these states are Rs.5000/- per year.

Likewise states like Rajasthan, Goa, Maharastra also do not extend any concession.

So whenever any application for authorisation comes to us for national permit vehicles, we would mind whether Rs.5000/- is collected for each state except union territory Puduchery

The Art of Earning money

The God of Wealth has showered her blessings on the employees of State Government.

Yes, the sixth pay commission has increased the salaries . The minimum increase is nearly Rs.5000'-.
How to invest this Rs.5000/- wisely.
A look at the various interest rates offered shows this
Banks savings fund.3.75% Banks fixed deposit 8.75% and GPF 8%

what will be the return if we invest in GPF

suppose if you are 35 at present and probably you may have 25 years of service and if you invest Rs.5000/- + your present subscription you may get around sixty seven lacs at the time of your retirement.

Generally we may calculate at 8% compound interest

The advantages of investing in gpf are
a)safe b)no tax deduction at the time of final payment c)no permission required d)no limit in investing in gpf) e)the option of withdrawing at any time is there
So take out a paper and write a request to increase the subscription immediately

Can we renew a conductor's licence five years after its expiry

A common question that comes to our mind quite often.

A reading of the relevant provisions do not provide a clear answer.

But if we probe a little further we do find the answer in the affirmative.

Conductor's licence is dealt in chapter III and driving licence in Chapter II.
Section 36 of the M V Act 1988stipulates that certain provisions of Chapter II to apply for conductors' licence also.

Proviso to Section 15 (4) of the M.V.Act states that a driving licence can be renewed even after 5 years if the applicant passes the retest.

In other words a licence can be renewed after 5 years if the applicant undergoes the test and passes the same.

Section 36 of M.V.Act emphasize that Section 15 of the MV Act applies to a conductor's licence also.

It says that the conductor licence can also be renewed after 5 years if the applicant passes the test.

So the conductor's licence can be renewed even after five years of expiry.

Conversion of foreign driving licence as indian driving licence

Many Indians who work in foreign countries obtain a driving licence there and come to India
They have a valid licence issued by another country which is valid only in the country of issue
How do they convert their foreign licence as an Indian licence.
The Motor vehicles' Act provides a way for that
Section 9 (3) (a) (iii) of M V act stipulates that when a person obtains a driving licence in another country they could submit their licence to a RTO office and obtain a new indian licence without undergoing test, llr and other formalities.
In other words they may submit their foreign licence to an office with forms for llr,fresh licence, medical certificate and proper fees and they will be issued a new Indian licence .

For this they need not wait for one month or undergo any test.
On presentation of foreign licence with necessary forms and fees fresh driving licence can be issued straightaway for the class of vehicles for which they hold their foreign licence.

hey

this blog is dedicated to transport department staff members. this blog will highlight the important circulars, latest amendments and it is a forum to open up the untouched areas of rules and regulations of transport department

Moreover this blog mainly deals with doubts in the department

It is also open to discussions and you may post your doubts and suggestions. Also the comments and descriptions are not final. This is purely my view and the writer is not at all responsible for any omissions or errors. The writings are based purely on my inference. Hope you have a good time.