Car Registration Mumbai v/s Thane

[clark_kent]

Guys,
Walked into a Maruti dealership yesterday looking to buy a Swift. Since there are no great discounts (except for the free 1yr insurance), the salesperson suggested I register my car in Thane instead of Mumbai to save some money (about 21K).
He mentioned that it is being done on a daily basis, and I would not have any problems (except for paying a couple of hundred Rs if a policeman stops me !!). They will register my car in Thane (even though I dont have a residence in Thane) via the NAP (No Address Proof) option.

I am actually surprised that the dealership themselves are so openly advertising to work around our so-called laws of the land. I am very skeptical of this whole Thane registration business ( I already have another car which is registered in Mumbai) and want people's opinion on what is the best approach on this.

I dont mind getting it done right and registering it in Mumbai if that means I will avoid hassles down the road.

[hvkumar]

This is a standard thing in Mumbai car registrations. There are 4 different price zones - Mumbai city, Thane City, New Mumbai and Thane District. Of them, Thane District is the cheapest since such vehicles are registered outside octroi limits. New Mumbai is the next.

Dealers give dummy addresses to get the cars registered. In the past, there have been raids on dealers and specific scrutinies of RTO records and dealers ahve been asked to explain. I heard that some people even got notcies, but can't figure out how RTO culd have got the real addresses of the car owners.

In between, I have also heard of RTO inspections in residential premises - they go and check out cars with registrations outside the area (like Thane District) and issue notices querying whether the owner lives there or not.

I have not heard of any one being stopped and queried on their actual resiential addresses, hence I would not worry about any trouble on that score. In case you do get stopped, if there inconsistencies in your records (such as car registration in a dummy address, but insurance policy in correct address), you will be red-faced trying to explain that way as a typo mistake!

But, yes, the price differences are significant and it is a great temptation to register your car in a low-tax regime.

[V-16]

I would not recommend this as, agreed, there is a price difference but thats only the Octroi part which works out to 4.5%. On an expensive car that does make a difference but then when you resell the car you get a lower price also as compared to the Thane one. Remember one thing, for peace of mind its worth it paying that little extra. Always pay your taxes and dont try to pull the wool over the govt.s eyes, eventually ull be caught. Of course if you do have a genuine adress at Thane then it makes a lot of sense registering the vehicle there.

[GTO]

If its on a bogus address, a big NO! The law will catch up eventually, the same way that they did with the entry tax scandal in the mid-nineties.

If you have a genuine address in Thane / Pune / etc. , then it shouldnt be a problem.

[Rtech]

Don't fall for this. You WILL get into trouble eventually, either when it comes time to sell (lower resale) or if/when the Govt. cracks down on it, like they have done already many times.

If you do have a legitimate address, then go for it. If not, pay that little bit extra now and enjoy your car with complete peace of mind.

[Samrat Banerjee]

Agree completely with GTO-
RTO inspectors landed up on one sunday and started checking all vehicles in our society in Chembur and people were call outside before their vehicles being towed away.... and it was repeated the next weekend...

[moralfibre]

I would suggest you to stick to registering your car on the current address and drive your car with a peace of mind. You will invite a lot of trouble if you happen to be involved in an accident or be a victim of a police crackdown! MH-01 / 02 / 03 catch less attention than MH-04 / 06 and similarly MH-14 in Pune.

Dont fall for the 21k deal, its not worth it!

[amitsingh08]

I have legitimate addresses in Mumbai and Pune; but Pune OTR is lower so tempted to buy there, even though I live in Mumbai.

What problem will I face when selling the car? Why do people feel I will get lower resale. I feel like I'm missing an important link

[hvkumar]

This is mainly because of the price differentials between different cities (affects resale values correspondingly). Besides. transferring a vehicle between RTOs is a headache - apart from red tape at RTOs, there are issues relating to payment of octroi, entry taxes, etc, which mean that if you try to sell a Pune car in Bombay, you will fetch a lower price and vice versa. Hence, if you have a Pune registered car, it is best to sell in Pune.