Vehicle owners in trouble over failure to ensure ownership change

Original owner will be held responsible even if he had sold the vehicle years ago

Illustration for TH

Anish Joseph, a resident of Thoppumpady, was left making frantic calls back home since he left for Saudi Arabia three months ago.

The calls were meant to constantly nudge the person to whom he sold his motorcycle just before his departure to change the name of owner on official records. Though the buyer had taken the motorcycle to Palakkad, MVD website still attributed its ownership to him.

Using a mix of pleas and threats, he eventually got the buyer to accede and is now waiting for the change to be reflected in official documents.

Anish’s case is not an exception but one of many similar ones. Aravind, a resident of Fort Kochi, sold his motorcycle four years ago only to realise to his shock that he remained the owner though the vehicle had changed hands multiple times. He traced the latest buyer to Perumbavur and bought it back.

K.M. Shaji, Ernakulam RTO, said that there were many instances where the seller came to know that the ownership had not changed only on receiving notices generated by the automated enforcement cameras of the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD).

While that’s a rather simple offence, things could turn nasty if such a vehicle is caught engaged in more serious crimes like spirit, drugs, or gold smuggling. The original owner will be held responsible even if he had sold the vehicle years ago.

Unlike commercial vehicles where the buyer insists on the seller producing the mandatory clearance from the RTO concerned as a proof that there is no pending dues or cases against the vehicle, no such clearance is needed in the case of private vehicles.

“In the case of private vehicles, sellers can be absolved of all future troubles if they inform both his RTO and the buyer’s RTO about the sale within 14 days on Form 29 that could be downloaded from the MVD website. Sales agreement and the acknowledgment receipt of Form 29 should provide them legal cover from future problems,” said Babu John, Joint RTO, Mattancherry.

But many sellers simply handover a signed Form 29 to buyers who in many cases don’t bother to change the name, landing the original owner in trouble when the vehicle is involved in accidents or illegal practices like smuggling.

M.P. Praveen