RTOs, cops told to scrap or auction khataras

The RTOs and police have a 100-day deadline to clear away all abandoned vehicles by sending them to the scrapyard or auctioning them

MUMBAI: ‘Khataras’ – that quintessentially Mumbai epithet for old and abandoned vehicles that are the bane of motorists scouring the streets for ever-elusive parking spots. But the khataras in question are not street-side; they have been rusting away in the premises of the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and police stations across the state.

Mumbai, India - March 19, 2025: Khatara cars parked in the Tradeo RTO in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The RTOs and police now have a 100-day deadline to clear away all abandoned vehicles by sending them to the scrapyard or auctioning them. The deadline, among other things, was set on Tuesday at a meeting headed by state chief secretary Sujata Saunik, with officials from the RTOs and police.

At the meeting, officials were told to keep government offices clean, clear khataras and other clutter from their premises, and make their premises citizen-friendly, whether RTOs or police stations. “We are instructing all the RTOs in the state to identify vehicles dumped in the premises, to see whether they can be auctioned and removed, or whether there are legal hurdles. Once the headcount of these vehicles is ready, we will scrap them or auction them,” said an official from the state transport department.

There are well over 10,000 khataras occupying valuable space inside RTOs across Maharashtra. Applicants who visit the RTOs for driving tests are often seen queuing up next to these rusty, old vehicles piled in heaps and occupying space.

The owners of vehicles impounded for procedural reasons or due to unpaid taxes will be notified, or advertisements will be published. If no one comes forward to claim them, they will be scrapped or auctioned depending on their age and condition, transport official said.

Phasing out vehicles

Sources said that in the last 12 months, more than 19,700 vehicles belonging to central and state government offices, and the police, have been scrapped. These are vehicles aged over 15 years and must necessarily be taken off the streets, according to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Also, unlike the owners of private vehicles, government vehicles don’t have the option to pay a green tax to continue to ply beyond 15 years.

Sources said that before April 2024, they had scrapped 7,879 vehicles belonging to the central government, state government and police department. For FY 2024-25, until March 16, 8,859 vehicles have been scrapped. Of these, 4,719 belong to the police department, 3,099 to the state government and 1,041 were used by central government offices. Also, of these, 1,735 were two-wheelers (1,600 belonged to the police). There were also ambulances, fire tenders, trucks and buses, among other four wheelers, that were scrapped.