New Delhi: The government has proposed extending the prescribed age limit for battery-operated, hydrogen-powered and natural gas vehicles by five years, according to draft amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, The Times of India reported.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) issued the draft rules on August 10 and has invited objections and suggestions from stakeholders within 30 days. The proposed changes will take effect only after their final publication in the Official Gazette.
The draft does not specify the revised maximum age for each vehicle category but proposes a five-year extension to the existing limits for battery-operated, hydrogen fuel-based and natural gas-powered vehicles.
The move could give operators more flexibility in using alternative-fuel vehicles as the government promotes cleaner transport options.
National permits to be issued digitally
The draft also proposes allowing national permit authorisations to be issued electronically for periods of up to five years at a time, at the applicant’s option.
The proposed fee is Rs 16,500 for each year of authorisation, payable to the national permit account. Applications in Form 46 and authorisations in Form 47 would be processed electronically under the proposed system.
Changes proposed for temporary registration
MoRTH has also proposed changes to temporary vehicle registration rules.
For a chassis without a body, temporary registration would remain valid for six months from the date of issue. If body fitting takes longer than six months because the chassis remains in a workshop, or due to circumstances beyond the owner’s control, the registering authority could extend the validity by 30 days at a time.
For fully built vehicles being converted into adapted vehicles, or vehicles being registered in a state different from the state where the dealer is located, temporary registration would be valid for 45 days.
The draft also proposes bringing eligible automotive component manufacturers under the trade certificate rules. Such manufacturers would require approval from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and would need to be engaged in research and development of new automotive products.
More vehicle records to go digital
The proposed amendments include several measures to digitise vehicle documentation and reduce manual data entry.
Information in certain applications would be automatically retrieved from the VAHAN portal once a dealership authorisation certificate or vehicle registration number is provided.
The revised forms would also include details such as GST registration number, PAN, Udyam Aadhaar and Corporate Identification Number for dealers, where applicable.
For vehicle owners, the draft proposes including an Aadhaar-linked mobile number in Form 20. It also proposes recording agreement or loan account numbers in documents related to hire-purchase, lease and hypothecation arrangements.
The proposed changes to Form 48 would require details of a vehicle’s valid registration, insurance, pollution under control certificate and fitness certificate, as well as pending challans and details of any previous national permit.
The government will consider stakeholder feedback before finalising and notifying the amendments.
