Aadhar mandatory for Vehicle registrations: TS

Hyderabad, Aug 23: The Telangana Road Transport Authority has decided that the Aadhar card is mandatory for registration of all vehicles here on Tuesday.

In fact, the Aadhaar number is now a must to avail of any service offered by the RTA in the state. And the new rule does not even spare those wanting to transfer vehicle ownership for second or third-time sales.

Confirming this, joint transport commissioner T Raghunath told media that Aadhaar has indeed been made compulsory for registration of all category of vehicles, be they new, second hand or third hand, with effect from August 22, 2017.

"Applicants cannot book slots online on the transport department website for any service offered by RTA in the state without providing their Aadhaar number," Raghunath said.

Applicants will now also have to provide their correct mobile number to the department to avail services.

Earlier, the Aadhaar number was optional for the registration of new vehicles and the transport department officials did not insist on it for those registering used vehicles.

Officials of the transport department said the move is aimed at creating a database of owners of all vehicles, mainly details of the new owners of old vehicles as the department does not have the coordinates of the "current owners of about 10 lakh old vehicles" that were sold by the first owner to the second, third or even fourth or more persons.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) A V Ranganath said the transport department will share this data with the traffic police, which can seize the vehicle during routine checks if they find the new owner continuing to drive the vehicle in the name of the previous owner to avoid being slapped with cases and penalty points for violation of traffic rules.