Vintage vehicles in India get green signal for registration

India’s Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has formalised the registration process for vintage vehicles – both two- and four-wheelers – across the country. On November 25, 2020, MoRTH had issued a notification, seeking comments and suggestions as regards an amendment to CMVR 1989 specific to vintage motor vehicles.  

Explaining the move to register vintage vehicles, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a tweet: “With an aim to preserve and promote the heritage of vintage vehicles, the MoRTH has formalised the registration process of Vintage Motor Vehicles in India. All 50-plus 2/4 wheelers, which have been maintained in their original form and have not undergone any substantial overhaul, can be registered as vintage motor vehicles.”

Going forward, the Minister expects the new rules to “provide a hassle-free process along with salient features such as retention of old number for already registered vehicles and a ‘VA’ series (Unique Registration Mark) for fresh registrations.”

The draft notification by the Road Transport Ministry proposes that new certificate issuance will cost Rs 20,000 per car and will be valid for 10 years. The charges for renewal of registration will lead to an additional cost of Rs 5,000.

The draft also specifies that vintage vehicles will now sport a 10-digit alphanumeric number including the VA code for vintage, state code along with the alphabet plus number code used for vehicle registrations.