[ramases6]

Thank you for the thorough and exhaustive checklist Dhanush Menon. It is indeed heartening that current vehicles like the Mahindra XUV 500 the new Tata Aria. The documents required would not be a problem. What could be is the waiting in line every step of the way, right from booking it at the CSD to taking delivery at the dealers. I cannot fault the dealers for their lack of enthusiasm but I still wish CSD purchases were a lot more streamlined as in easy and quick. Given our penchant for lengthy procedures thinking that it will eliminate misuse, I do not think the purchase of a new car is likely to be a pleasure. Those above sixty would find it difficult to get through without multiple visits to various agencies. But the younger and more enthusiastic can certainly use the privilege accorded to Service personnel.

[patil]

Hi Guys,
My brother is becoming an army officer during the month of June. Can he buy a car through CSD immediately after he becomes an officer or should he wait for any specified period of time. Is there any price limitation on the vehicle to be bought and can he buy the Santa Fe considering the factor that presently its a CBU but it has a sub 2.5 L engine.
Further the savings come from exemption of Excise Duty or Luxury Tax or VAT or a combination of all or any of the above. Kindly clarify. Further is there any exemption on the road tax and what about moving from one state to other on account of transfers. Thanks in advance.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by ramases6

The documents required would not be a problem. What could be is the waiting in line every step of the way, right from booking it at the CSD to taking delivery at the dealers. I cannot fault the dealers for their lack of enthusiasm but I still wish CSD purchases were a lot more streamlined as in easy and quick.

The procedure though looks cumbersome and lengthy, it actually isn't so.
And more than all, it's worth the effort!!

Originally Posted by patil

Hi Guys,
My brother is becoming an army officer during the month of June. Can he buy a car through CSD immediately after he becomes an officer or should he wait for any specified period of time. Is there any price limitation on the vehicle to be bought and can he buy the Santa Fe considering the factor that presently its a CBU but it has a sub 2.5 L engine.
Further the savings come from exemption of Excise Duty or Luxury Tax or VAT or a combination of all or any of the above. Kindly clarify. Further is there any exemption on the road tax and what about moving from one state to other on account of transfers. Thanks in advance.

1) Your brother cannot buy the vehicle immediately after he joins the Army.
He needs to have atleast 2 years of commissioned service for purchase.
2) There is no price limitation, only engine capacity limitation of 2500 cc.
However, what you might need to find out would be whether Santa Fe is available through CSD or not.
If Santa Fe is not already registered with CSD for purchase, sourcing that through CSD would be an uphill task. Up hill, but not impossible though)

And for the new version Santa Fe, the chances are that it will not be registered with the CSD.
Generally, a car can take anywhere from 6 months to at times more than a year before it is available through CSD.
Figo was one of the fastest, when it was made available within four months. That was only possible due to aggressive measures by Ford.

Moreover, Santa Fe being a premium brand would not fetch many buyers. So the company themselves might not push to get it available through the canteen.
Whereas, entry level sedan and hatchback segments finds a lot of buyers and therefore, it would be beneficial for the company also to make it available through canteen.

[speed185]

How do you get sanction letter from IHQ. Regards, Speed.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by speed185

How do you get sanction letter from IHQ. Regards, Speed.

There's a form which you need to fill and forward to IHQ, countersigned by your head.
Once sent, you should get the sanction (provided you meet the criteria) within three- four weeks.

[Krishnan83]

Hi Dhanush,

My mom is a widower and has eligiblity for availing CSD services as my Dad was a JCO. I'm planning to buy a Tata Nano and wanted to know if it's worth the effort to buy via CSD in my mom's name. I understand that for bigger vehicles there will be huge discounts; any ballpark figure that you know of of what discount one can have when buying a Nano Twist via CSD. Your reply will be highly appreciated. Cheers!

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by Krishnan83

Hi Dhanush,

My mom is a widower and has eligiblity for availing CSD services as my Dad was a JCO. I'm planning to buy a Tata Nano and wanted to know if it's worth the effort to buy via CSD in my mom's name. I understand that for bigger vehicles there will be huge discounts; any ballpark figure that you know of of what discount one can have when buying a Nano Twist via CSD. Your reply will be highly appreciated. Cheers!

Hi Krishnan,
I am not sure about the eligibility criteria for a widow of a JCO.
You might as well check up in the local Zila Sainik Board. One phone call will solve your problem.

As far as I know, once you have retired from service, you can buy car through CSD only once.
And it is not worth the kinda paper work you might've to do for a car like nano; because the difference might not be much.
Moreover, If you are entitled to buy only once, you might as well save it for later for a car which will give you better difference.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Hi Krishnan,
I am not sure about the eligibility criteria for a widow of a JCO.
You might as well check up in the local Zila Sainik Board. One phone call will solve your problem.

As far as I know, once you have retired from service, you can buy car through CSD only once.
And it is not worth the kinda paper work you might've to do for a car like nano; because the difference might not be much.
Moreover, If you are entitled to buy only once, you might as well save it for later for a car which will give you better difference.

Unless the rules have changed, you could buy one car every two years. I myself bought two cars against may father's name ( post retirement) . The first one was an Indica in 2004 and the second one was an SX4 in 2008 which I stil drive.

[rishab.k]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Unless the rules have changed, you could buy one car every two years.

Two year rule has been changed, it's four years now.

[attrishekhar]

Surprisingly CSD car rates also vary from depot to depot.
Chennai has the lowest rates.
I bought my vento there and got it registered in pondy for a mere 7000 bucks flat rate

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Unless the rules have changed, you could buy one car every two years. I myself bought two cars against may father's name ( post retirement) . The first one was an Indica in 2004 and the second one was an SX4 in 2008 which I stil drive.

Originally Posted by rishab.k

Two year rule has been changed, it's four years now.

The two year rule has been changed only for a short period of time.
Due to government instituted austerity measures of finances and back logs.
It will be reverted back to four years very soon.

And, Rajneesh, as per laid down rules and regulations, you are not entitled for more than one car after retirement.
You having bought the second one would be because the application form might not have been sifted properly at that time.

Originally Posted by attrishekhar

Surprisingly CSD car rates also vary from depot to depot.
Chennai has the lowest rates.
I bought my vento there and got it registered in pondy for a mere 7000 bucks flat rate

AFAIK, Gujarat has the lowest rate, followed closely by Jharkhand.
However, buying a car in Chenni and registering in Pondichery will turn out to be cheaper due to the very low Registration costs at Pondichery.

If you buy the car at Gujarat and want to register out of Gujarat, the state government will charge some extra tax in the name of exit VAT. This is a fixed percentage of the cost of the car in CSD. (I don't remember the figure).

Therefore, though the car is cheapest in Gujarat, if you take the on road cost, Chennai/ Jharkhand would turn out to be cheapest.

I hope this post was of help to all members and browsers who read through this thread.

[rajneeesh]

Well, I am sure you can buy more than 1 car from CSD after retirement. I live in an AWHO colony and all my neighbours are ex- faujis. They change their cars very frequently and buy from CSD. Most of them have grown up children and they all have multiple cars in the family. Like I said before, earlier you could buy a car after every two years. the government may have changed that rule and increased the duration between two purchases, but I am certain you still can buy more than 1 car.

I will find out the exact rules and post an update shortly.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

I will find out the exact rules and post an update shortly.

Please do that.
It would be of great help to the other members to improvise their knowledge.
As far as I know it's only one car after retirement.

On the flip side, if the ex faujis are changing cars frequently, does that mean that it is always through Csd??

[attrishekhar]

You can buy a car every two years through CSD. I did.
Retired jcos can buy a car below 1.6 ltrs once after retirement. AFAIK

[rishab.k]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

As far as I know it's only one car after retirement.

That's for JCOs/ORs. They can purchase one while in service & one post retirement. For officers it's once in four years.