Vahan the National Register - E data of Registered vehicles in India

There is popular wrong notion that things do not occur fast in Govt. departments and Private sector is efficient and responsive…….. that is more of a perception as you will learn when you experience both – either as an Outsider or as an Insider ….

Have you heard of “Vahan” – the National Register e-services of Registered Vehicles. 

As you know there are millions of vehicles plying on Indian roads and that all vehicles needs to be registration.  Simply the last 4 digits are unique.  If all the 9999 numbers are used up, the RTO adds the letter 'A before the number space so that more numbers can be accommodated.  After exhausting that option, then two letters are prefixed to the No.   – Some States follow the practice of adding the description of the make of the vehicle.  Thus in Mumbai  MH-01 AA would point to a two-wheeler; whereas MH-01 CA is a small car. In Tamil Nadu, the letter G is reserved for Government (both the Union Government of India and State Governments) vehicles and the letter N is reserved for Government Transport Buses.

Vehicle Registration involves the recording of a motor vehicle in the official records after due verification. Vehicle Registration is mandatory under the law and is essential to prove the ownership of a vehicle. It is also required during the sale of a vehicle and transfer of its ownership.

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 is the principal statute in force for regulation of motor vehicular traffic throughout the country, and falls under the Concurrent List of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India. The implementation of various provisions of this Act rests with the State Governments.  Registration of Motor Vehicles lies under the purview of this Act. The Act provides that no person should drive a vehicle, and that no owner of a motor vehicle shall cause or permit a vehicle to be driven, in any public place, unless the vehicle is registered and the certificate of registration of the vehicle has not been suspended or cancelled, and the vehicle carries a Registration Mark displayed in the required manner.

Most of us do not know anything of the Registration (other than remembering the Registration No. of the vehicle (s) owned by us).  This is because, the Registration of any new vehicle is done by the Automobile dealer who submits various documents to the RTO (Regional Transport Officer)/Transport Department of the area of your residence.  The vehicle buyer has to pay  one-time road tax and the required registration fee. The vehicle will be physically inspected by the Inspecting Authority and a unique Registration Mark assigned to the vehicle for display thereon.

In Tamilnadu, the following are the forms prescribed :  Form 20 in duplicate if it is with HP; Form 21 ; Form 19; Form 22; PAN or GIR or Form-60/61 of I.T.Dept.    The buyer has to submit : Address Proof; Insurance (generally done by the Dealer and cover note, a temporary document is presented); Passport-sized photo – there is also the prescribed fees for registration. 

There is another Authority – or database :  the National Register:   - here the data from the different State Registers flow and combine to make the National Register.  Selected information is envisaged to be captured at the National level.  The National Register is to act as a central repository of all crucial data and will enable the users to avail the service on ‘Anywhere service’ .

When fully functional, the National Register would provide the services of :  Vehicle search from out of the digitized data of all Registered vehicle based on parameters like the Registration No.; Chassis No.; Engine No; Name of Manufacturer; Make/ Model etc.,  Citizens can search their vehicle by providing full Registration No. and last 5 digit of chassis no.

This known as “Vahan” is the Integrated solution for Vehicle Registration – when fully functional this software would enable the process at RTO  and various Transport related authorities to get computerized and provide a single database for search and retrieval of information.

You may be interested in checking your own vehicle details at the following link :

https://vahan.nic.in/nrservices/faces/search/publicSearchDetails.jsp


The link over the period of years has changed : it is parivahan now :   Parivahan Sewa  ~ and click   :  Onlineservices :  Check your vehicle details  (updated by me in June 2016)

If you are not able to obtain the details – it could be : that details were wrongly entered; network failure or simply those details were not digitalized and not updated in their database.  At this juncture, it may not be the perfect end-solution but certainly a great beginning.

Alternatively, you  can also SMS : 09212357123 – type vahan space your vehicle registration no. in full including letters without space.    Though all the vehicle records have not been digitized, I was able to check my 2 wheeler bought in Oct 2007

with regards – S. Sampathkumar.

24^th Feb 2012.