Maharashtra: Transport chief may get back powers to approve new vehicles

If a vehicle manufacturer or dealer wants to get a new model registered, he will have to get it approved from the Maharashtra state transport commissioner as it was the rule before 2010.

If a vehicle manufacturer or dealer wants to get a new model registered, he will have to get it approved from the Maharashtra state transport commissioner as it was the rule before 2010.

This has been proposed in the draft of Maharashtra Mechanically Propelled Vehicles & Road Safety Act, 2015.

“The transport commissioner shall issue a separate approval on each model manufactured by vehicle manufacturer on the basis of the approval granted to it by one of the testing agencies,” reads the draft of Act.

In 2010, the state government had stripped the powers of transport commissioner of giving approvals to new model of vehicles. The government had taken the decision after a well-known manufacturer complained over the delay in the model approval to one of its cars.

RTO officials used to inspect the new vehicles, taking safety and other aspects into consideration. After carrying out the necessary changes suggested by the transport commissioner, the vehicle used to get a go-ahead for registration.

The proposal, if passed, will bring back the old procedure.

“The Act states that no vehicle manufacturer or an authorised dealer shall sell any vehicle manufactured by it and no registering authority shall register the same unless it is covered by approval order,” states the draft rule.

RTO officials have welcomed the provision, saying that it would end registration problems. “It will bring uniformity in the registration process across the state as well as address the safety issue of vehicles which was being ignored,” said a senior RTO official in Mumbai.

A total of seven technical bodies, including Pune-based Automotive Research Authority of India (ARAI) and Vehicle Research and Development Authority under ministry of Defence, are authorised to give approval to all new vehicles launched in the country.

RTO officials highlighted the need of model approval by the state authorities apart from the technical entities. They said that though technical bodies such as ARAI conduct extensive testing of new vehicles, they pay little attention to the vehicle’s external design.

“The transport commissioner office used to circulate the vehicle details such as seating capacity and tax to be charged to all RTOs after giving approval," said another RTO official.