[prateekm]

I have a query, which though isn't very relevant, suits the general topic of registration. I have a gearless scooter (Honda Dio) which I used for the past 2 years since I had a gearless license. Now as I am planning to go for a bike, I need to sell the Dio. I am not looking for buyers since my first-cousin who will turn 16 in a couple of days will be using it for the next 2 years and then return it back to me. He stays at Mumbai and I stay at Thane, and the bike is Thane octroi paid. Another thing is that dad is currently in Gurgaon for the next 1 year, so the registration transfer will be a hassle. Now, what I need to know is, do I need to transfer the bike to his dad's name since he would be using it? Currently, the bike is registered on my dad's name. What do you guys suggest?

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by vikramvicky1984

3. Do some more fraud like get a landline connection for a thousand bucks and register your car at that adddress

Why do you consider this fraud?

It is quite straight forward. You can:

1. Get MTNL landline in your rented apartment
OR
2. Update Voter ID with address in Mumbai
OR
3. Update Address in Passport to Mumbai
OR
4. Update address in LIC policy to Mumbai
OR
5. Show LPG connection as address proof


All these are perfectly legal and accepted by RTO. Even Telecom providers are leagally bound to accept these as proof.

When I bought my first car, I was staying in an apartment on rent. Did not face any issue at all.

[Sahil M]

I went to Skoda Auto bahn at Prabhadevi, Mumbai looking for a skoda laura. I was suprised to know that the dealer was willing to register my car as thane registered by charging me 12000 rs extra, although I live in mumbai and have no property whatsoever in Thane. I dont know how this can be done and even if it can be done should I try this option out because its saving me 50000rs which is really tempting.

[mayankk]

isnt this the same reason people in delhi register cars in haryana?
Going by the sheer number of HR plates in delhi, i dont think this is illegal.

Edit:could be different in mumbai.do check

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by mayankk

isnt this the same reason people in delhi register cars in haryana?
Going by the sheer number of HR plates in delhi, i dont think this is illegal.

Edit:could be different in mumbai.do check

Registering a car for a place for which you have address proof is perfectly legal.
However, having a fake address proof is illegal.

[drmohitg]

Yup and there is a very thin line in between the 2 things tsk above has mentioned and most people do not mind crossing it. One VW dealer in Delhi offered me chandigarh registartion and on telling him that I don't own anything there, he was quick to point out that he will get it done and its not my headache.
Ofcourse I didn't go to him again. You can't trust someone who doesn't give a rat's tail to the law.

But otherwise if you are saving money on thane registartion go for it. All you need is a rent agreement which can be easily made.

[Guna]

Apparently very large number of high end cars/SUVs in Bangalore get registered in Pondichery to evade the high road tax. Cops who are normally after any non KA number plates turn a blind eye when it comes to these cars.

[libranof1987]

When customers are keen on finding ways to reduce the OTR on the vehicles they purchase, dealers have obviously realized the potential for profit.

It may save you some money now but I'd suggest you not have the car registered on a phony address.

If you have a place in a city where the road tax is cheaper, by all means, you have to save money. But, this if unethical.

If we encourage it, it'll only get worse.

[funkyp]

This practice is quiet rampant in Mumbai just to save on the Octroi being charged.

Although, i agree that it saves you some dough upfront, i would not recommend you going for the same primarily because its not legal if you dont have an address proof.

Besides, if you are pulled up by the cops for whatever reason, this might be caught and could land you in further trouble/fine/ more bribery.

It does pinch you paying extra for that octroi, but that the right thing to do. I would rather haggle with the dealer for extra discounts

[mgh]

Mumbai has octroi,road tax will be same all over Maharashtra. As far as I know, if you ever transfer it to a Mumbai address later, you will have to pay octroi on depreciated value.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by funkyp

Although, i agree that it saves you some dough upfront, i would not recommend you going for the same primarily because its not legal if you dont have an address proof.

Besides, if you are pulled up by the cops for whatever reason, this might be caught and could land you in further trouble/fine/ more bribery.

+1. If you are looking at a long term ownership of the car then I suggest do whats right and legal. You don't know what rule might come tomorrow into effect and I would personally not be happy if stopped by cops even once for the same. For complete peace of mind and taking a moral high ground, get it registered in your own address whatever be the tax. I had the option of getting my Altis registered in Haryana and Chandigarh and save 1+L. But finally decided in favor of Delhi registration for the reasons mentioned above.

[Maverick1977]

This practice has been followed by this showroom since ages. My friend was interested in buying the Octavia & the sales guys were pushing him to buy the Laura instead. When he said the car was beyond budget he readily said that he can register in a non-octroi region without any address proof.
Other surprise was that the sales guy was over eager to down play the other cars in the segment. He even said people leave their new (competition brand) cars at their door step in favour of the Laura.
We just laughed & simply walked out thinking what all other kind of tricks these guys might be playing with their customers.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Sad but true. Most showrooms are following this procedure. If the address is legit, then its absolutely legal to do so.
But more often than not, these guys register cars in fake address's to take a few k's off the final OTR price.

[ra'ul M]

Originally Posted by Sahil M

I went to Skoda Auto bahn at Prabhadevi, Mumbai looking for a skoda laura. I was suprised to know that the dealer was willing to register my car as thane registered by charging me 12000 rs extra, although I live in mumbai and have no property whatsoever in Thane. I dont know how this can be done and even if it can be done should I try this option out because its saving me 50000rs which is really tempting.

Please do not do this even if it gets more tempting unless you actually have an address there.
I'll share a story with you which will help you realize the gravity of the situation in case something goes wrong. Here goes:
My friend, originally from Punjab, bought a Swift when he was studying in Chandigarh and registered the car on his rented address. He left that accommodation soon after.
5 years down the line, sometime on March 2011, we had multiple cars when going for a party and decided to park his car in one of the umpteen parking places in Chandigarh.

At about 1 am we were about to cross that place again and decided to drop one more car there. To our absolute we saw at least 12 cops there, a bomb squad team, a tow away van and a couple of sniffer dogs.
Now, as every sensible guy going to an after party would do, we ran! Only, to turn back after realizing 90% of us were lawyers and it is after all a parking lot.
Upon reaching the place we were greeted by furious cops who were absolutely mad at us.

Reason: Someone had complained about a car standing in the lot for about 8 hours. A routine check revealed that the contact number had changed. So a couple of cops went down to the address and found out that no one by that name stays there. The new tenants went as far as saying that no one by that name had ever stayed there. Further investigation revealed that the car had come from Punjab that evening only making it even more suspicious. They had to get the bomb squad and sniffer dogs, go through the entire list of stolen cars, look for other clues and ultimately call a 24hr tow away service just because the damn address could not be verified. I would not go into the details of how it ended but it was not pleasant.

Sorry for the long post and going , but I wanted to highlight what can go wrong due to a a fake registration address.

Cheers!

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Guna

Apparently very large number of high end cars/SUVs in Bangalore get registered in Pondichery to evade the high road tax. Cops who are normally after any non KA number plates turn a blind eye when it comes to these cars.

I see a lot high end luxury cars in Bangalore (esp. Audi ) with PY registration. The road tax in bangalore is insanely high. By registering in Pondicherry the owner is able to save upwards of Rs. 8 to 10 lakhs depending on the ex showroom price of these luxury cars. There was an article in Bangalore mirror which said RTO is losing about Rs. 8 Cr a month due to such practices!

It seems to me that the dealers of high end cars have realised that by doing this, they are able to knock off a substantial amount from the OTR, which helps them to make the sale. That's all they care really. But what happens when there is a serious accident involving the car and the car is impounded by the police? Would the owner be forced to pay the road tax in such a situation? Would the owner be charged with giving a fake address for registering his vehicle? (which I assume is an offence).