New rules make maintaining vintage vehicles easier

This will enable people to retain the original registration number of their vintage vehicle even if it was earlier registered in a state outside UP or imported from outside India

The Central Motor Vehicles (Fifteenth Amendment) Rules, 2021, recently notified by the union ministry of transport, has made separate rules for the registration of vintage cars, bringing hope for their owners, as also encouraging enthusiasts.

Patiala, India-27 February 2020 :::::vintage car rally during the Heritage Festival in Patiala on Thursday, February 27, 2020.Photo by Bharat Bhushan Hindustan Times.

“The new rules are encouraging...vintage and classic cars, jeeps and motor- cycles can now get registration and ply legally despite being overage,” said Sandeep Das, secretary, Vintage Car and Motor-Cycle Club, Lucknow. A vintage vehicle connoisseur himself, Das owns five such vehicles.

The gazette notification came on July 15. “The rules have been notified after the ministry invited comments and suggestions from all the stakeholders last year in October-November,” senior transport official AK Pandey said. “Till now, there were no separate rules for vintage vehicles due to which their owners were facing problems,” he said.

This, he said, will enable people to retain the original registration number of their vintage vehicle even if it was earlier registered in a state outside UP or imported from outside India. “Vintage vehicles have been exempted from the requirement of being fitted with a high security registration plate (HSRP) too,” he added.

The rules that have come into force across the country with immediate effect define a vehicle as vintage if it is more than fifty years old from the date of first registration after first sale. This category will also include any imported vehicle if it is maintained in its original form and has not undergone a substantial overhaul, which includes any modification in chassis, body shell, or engine.

The government has fixed ₹20,000 as the fee for the first registration and certification of a vehicle as vintage vehicle and ₹5,000 for its subsequent registration every five years with the first registration/certification to be valid for 10 years.

All those vehicles which are already registered will continue to retain the original registration number and registration plate without any change.

The rules, however, do not allow vintage vehicles to be driven or plied on the roads on a regular basis.

According to Das, there must be at least 500 vintage vehicles in UP, mostly in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Agra. “In Lucknow alone, there are around 75-80 such vehicles and the new rules will help in restoration of more vehicles as vintage ones in the whole state,” he said.