The former Minister for Haj, Wakf and Minority Welfare Mumtaz Ali Khan was in an embarrassing situation recently when he received a notice from the city traffic police asking him to pay up a penalty of Rs. 100 for riding a motorcycle without helmet.
Shocked, Mr. Khan called up senior officials and alleged harassment, arguing that he never rode a motorcycle in the past 10 years, nor did he have any bike. Mr. Khan’s anger subdued when the traffic police not only showed the video footage of the violation but also handed him over the documents of the vehicle which showed Mr. Khan as the owner.
After a few brainstorming sessions with his family, Mr. Khan recalled that the he indeed had a two-wheeler which was sold about three-and-half years ago.
Though the deal was over and Mr. Khan had forgotten about it, like most of the vehicle owners, he had not made any efforts to get the vehicle transferred to the buyer’s name. Mr. Khan may have been fortunate this time. For, if the motorcycle was involved in some major accident or stolen and used for some anti-social activities, he would have been in major trouble, a senior police officer said.
Joint Commissioner of Transport H.G. Kumar said that in such events, the officials will file a complaint by looking at the name that is found in the RC book of the vehicle. “It is the responsibility of the transferor to make sure that the vehicle registration has been changed in the name of the transferee,” he said.
According to the Indian Motor Vehicle (IMV) Act 50, the transferor has to intimate the Regional Transport Offices (RTO) within 14 days of the transfer of ownership. Similarly the Act also instructs the transferee to inform the RTO about the change in vehicle ownership and produce all the required documents within 30 days of the transfer.
Mr. Kumar said that the transferor and the transferee should file an application before the change of ownership and forms have been provided for the purpose. The transferor is required to fill Form 29 while the transferee is required to fill in the Form 30, he added.
Traffic police officials said it has become regular problem for them to come across disagreement from many vehicles owners stating that they have received the notice but the vehicle does not belong to them.
“We have no option, but to seize the vehicle after multiple violations to catch the real owner of the vehicle. But till then the owner who has the name is the RC book would receive the notices and he would be held responsible if the vehicle is involved in some major incident”, a senior police officer of the traffic management centre said.
