As per the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988, all vehicles are required to possess a registration certificate (RC)as well as a mark of registration on the vehicle itself, in order to be driven in public or elsewhere. Failure to abide by this section of the act would result in the owner being penalized under the same piece of legislation. The RC is essentially a document verifying that your vehicle is registered with any Regional Transport Office within the country.
The certificate is initially valid for a period of 15 years, following which, it must be renewed periodically every 5 years. For many years, the registration certificate was a set of documents or an R.C. book, however, they can now also be issued as PVC cards that either possess embedded chips or a QR code that can be scanned in order to access the vehicle and its owner’s R.C. information. This measure was adopted in order to improve accessibility and connectivity to the government’s online databases such as VAHAN or SARATHI. In fact, all but 3 states in India now have offices affiliated with VAHAN.
Source : VAHAN
Vehicle owners can either register their automobiles personally at the nearest RTO or have their dealer perform the process before having the new vehicle delivered to them. Certain dealerships only deliver automobiles to their customers with the registration certificate completed, undertaking the application process themselves.
If you are applying for the registration certification on your own, here’s what you need to do.
Here’s a list of documents you require when obtaining a vehicle registration certificate:
The R.C. information provided by the RC smart cards or the R.C. book are the same and consist of the following:
In case you lose the RC of your vehicle or your original copy is torn beyond fixing, you can obtain a duplicate RC through the following process.
The documents that you may require when obtaining a duplicate RC are as follows –
In case you want to convert your RC book RC smart card, follow the steps given below –
The registration fees can vary depending upon the type of vehicle as well as its make and manufacturing location. Broadly, the registration fees can be divided into these strata:
Type of Vehicle |
Amount |
Two wheelers |
Rs. 300 |
Light Motor Vehicles (Non Transport) |
Rs. 600 |
Medium goods and passenger vehicles |
Rs. 1000 |
Heavy goods vehicle |
Rs. 1500 |
Heavy passenger motor vehicles |
Rs. 5000 |
Imported motor vehicles |
Rs. 3000 |
Imported motorcycles |
Rs. 5000 |
Checking your RC details online is straightforward. Just follow the steps given below -
You can also seek the vehicle RC details with SMS. Here’s what you need to do –
Upon sending the text message, you will receive the RC details that include the vehicle owner’s name, RTO details, make and model of the vehicle, expiry date, and motor insurance details on your phone.
Yes. You can download the RC book online by following these steps:
Yes. If you want to remove hypothecation from the RC, visit the RTO with the following documents.
● NOC from the financier
● Form 35
● Original RC
● Aadhar Card
● Motor insurance plan
● PUC
● Passport-sized photos
● Driving licence
● Payment receipt copy (if you paid online)
The RTO authority will verify the documents and sign the acceptance form. After this, you can pay for your new RC smart card. Then on your assigned appointment date, you can collect the new RC from the RTO.
No. Since Aadhar card contains important personal data of an individual, it cannot be used to find the vehicle details.
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