[PlatzdaTurbo]

An RTO shocker with the Audi, most may term it as a BIG joke & a hearty laugh at the way our system works.

4 months of trouble-free ownership of my sweetheart before an unfortunate incident happened as i have posted in my thread -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...4-3-0-tdi.html
She was taken for service immediately and finally yesterday, after 3 long weeks ( truly felt like months together ) of hair pulling , i got a call last afternoon - " Sir, the car is ready in tip-top condition you can collect it tomorrow morning anytime"
Immediately i asked - " Why tomorrow ? Its 6pm ,you still have time before you close dont you ?"
Manager - " Yes sir, but as its raining i assumed you would collect it tomorrow morning ?"
YA RIGHT ! not even Katrina (the hurricane or kaif ! ,whichever ) was going to stop me from collecting her last evening. I dont know how but in that crazy downpour, i managed to find an auto and reach there half drenched. Now the fun starts..the service head, who was waiting for me, asked - "sir would u like to have a thorough look at the car ?" Well why ever not ??? & we went nextdoor to the workshop. In the workshop ,stood 2 Q7s which were being worked on & a crystal white ,gleaming A4 with its bonnet open. It said V6 TDI. I glanced at it & sulked a bit in my mind.The exclusivity of being a rarely seen a4 3.0 tdihad taken a small beating, as it wasnt mine ! Same colour, same specs and the number read - MH/14/CC/ which is the same as my car's except the last four digits were different. I was wondering whose car it might be. Finally after what seemed like eons ! , he was done with his call, he comes to me and asks me - " Y dont you have a look on the inside as well ???"
Im like, "sure but wheres the car ???"
With a slightly amused expression he says " Sir this of course is it !! " pointing at this 'same look, different numbered' A4.
Me- "stop kidding me, this isnt my reg number"
Thats when he said something which completely blew me away as it hadnt happened before with me atleast.
He shoots - " OH! Forgot to inform you, the earlier reg. no that the Talegaon (near pune) RTO had given you wasnt infact, registered with them atall , THIS ! ...is your real registration number " with a smile!
I dont know if i was paralyzed but for a couple of minutes after he said that, i stood there stunned without a reaction and stuttering away as frankly i just couldn't understand how to react ! whether to laugh it out or to be entirely shocked and throw a fit !
That basically meant, that for 4 whole months, we were moving around with a reg. number that did not even exist and wasnt registered at any RTO ! & all this after 3 long trips( 2 out of which were utterly useless and a waste of time and fuel ) to talegaon & listening to the same old lame excuse - " Saaheb , Imported D-GEL gaadi haai mhanun motya saahebanna bhi baghaychi haai " --> " Its a diesel import so the big boss wants to check it" ( god save me !!! )
Even on the 3rd trip to the R.T.O the so called 'bade saaheb' kept us waiting for 3 hours as he had gone to force food into his already huge tummy & after he returned, he took 1 small round around the car, read the TDI written on the engine , asked "D-GEL haai ???" and signed some paper and left !
3 trips and more than 600kms covered for 5 mins of this insignificant idiot and he dosnt even register my car !!!! i could tear him apart !
To conclude , in the last half of August , the 4th month of ownership of my car, yesterday was the first day i drove around with a legal and registered number plate !! The accident due to which i had to take the car to Audi West for service was unfortunate but it just got me wondering , 'What if the accident hadnt happened & i hadnt taken the car to Audi at all ??'....would i have known about this fiasco ? EVER ??? Until the day the traffic police would have put me behind bars for moving around with fake reg. plates ofcourse !!
Such is the plight of the RTOs in our nation ! In the end , what can anyone do about it but laugh if off with a long groan ??? I dont blame anyone for being a cynic in our country ! I am one !

[Jeep]

I am not surprised. Not sure how many more run on our roads with incorrect registration numbers.

However, some questions remain:
1. What about the registration book/card that you received with the earlier regn no?
2. Will you get a new one?
3. Please verify the engine/chassis no. of the vehicle that was delivered to you and match it with the original and new records.
4. What about the insurance papers? You'll need to get them again

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Oh, forgot to add 1 more crucial thing. In the 3 weeks when the car was with Audi for servicing, the Audi guys had to take it to the Talegaon RTO ONCE MORE !!, to solve the reg. problem and get the legal number. The manager at Audi told me yesterday. So that makes it 4 trips to get something i should have gotten a long time ago. Beat that !
For people not familiar with Talegaon, its RTO is about 145kms away from Mumbai

Originally Posted by Jeep

I am not surprised. Not sure how many more run on our roads with incorrect registration numbers.

However, some questions remain:
1. What about the registration book/card that you received with the earlier regn no
2. Will you get a new one?
3. Please verify the engine/chassis no. of the vehicle that was delivered to you and match it with the original and new records.
4. What about the insurance papers? You'll need to get them again

1. What about the registration book/card that you received with the earlier regn no - RC book, many new Audi owners still dont have it, not available as yet. Theyl b calling us when they have the books . Card- with the earlier number , they gave us a receipt and a printout and assured us that until the books were available, these would keep us out of trouble from the police. This time around too, we have solid receipts of the new reg. number. Thankfully no lousy printed out page which would do nothing but raise doubts. Basically, until the reg. books are available, we are helpless. we HAVE to move around with these receipts.
2. Will you get a new one? - answered above.
3. Please verify the engine/chassis no. of the vehicle that was delivered to you and match it with the original and new records. - all verified.
4. What about the insurance papers? You'll need to get them again - Arrangements made. thankfully my dad's a professional in the insurance/valuation field so wasn't a bother for us.

[aargee]

Are you saying the number provided to you by Pune RTO office doesn't even exist in their record? But, was that the same number on your RC book too?

First thing, did you ensure that the dealer didn't mess up anything with the number plates or vehicles before blowing RTO? I don't intend to say RTO does a good job, but just checking the possibility.

But I really laughed out first, but then, this is a serious problem. Like you said, the cops could've put you behind the bars for moving around with fake reg numbers for no mistake of yours.

Last evening I was too wondering what happens if I use the registration plate of my scooter with my motorcycle? Who could even find out? Its not that difficult to construct a RC book either.

[ashish22]

well what can we say about these sarkari babus. Absolutely useless!! You traveled 600 kms just for grabbing those precioussssss 5 mins of this chap. And he rendered that into utter dismay as well. Good thing is that nothing serious happened. So i guess thats your consolation.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by aargee

Are you saying the number provided to you by Pune RTO office doesn't even exist in their record? But, was that the same number on your RC book too?

First thing, did you ensure that the dealer didn't mess up anything with the number plates or vehicles before blowing RTO? I don't intend to say RTO does a good job, but just checking the possibility.

But I really laughed out first, but then, this is a serious problem. Like you said, the cops could've put you behind the bars for moving around with fake reg numbers for no mistake of yours.

Last evening I was too wondering what happens if I use the registration plate of my scooter with my motorcycle? Who could even find out? Its not that difficult to construct a RC book either.

About the RC book, iv just answered and explained my case 1 post below. go through it. Many new audi owners still dont HAVE an RC book. not available !

Originally Posted by ashish22

well what can we say about these sarkari babus. Absolutely useless!! You traveled 600 kms just for grabbing those precioussssss 5 mins of this chap. And he rendered that into utter dismay as well. Good thing is that nothing serious happened. So i guess thats your consolation.

I have ended up thinking that the accident that happened was a blessing in disguise

[swiftnfurious]

Hey..feel bad about the accident happened to your sweetie!

While reading abt the RTO fiasco, was confused a moment whether to laugh or feel bad about you!

I hope insurance guys are not going to create any issues stating the registration issues.

[WDM007]

As for the RC book, I guess it takes more than 3 months, generally for all the cars.

And yes, when I got my car from MyCar, they provided me the number plates 3 days after delivery. The guy came to my residence to attach the plates. When I look at the number, it was MH12-XXXX. But I stay in Pimpri-Chinchwad !

So the solution he gave me was, just have these plates for a couple of days, till I come again with the proper MH14-XXXX plates.

And, I had to drive with those fraud plates for a couple of days !

[aargee]

Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo

Many new audi owners still dont HAVE an RC book. not available !

I realized this after my post; I guess that's the case with all CBU's in India including the CBR's & Busa's. Audi's no exception I guess.

Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo

I have ended up thinking that the accident that happened was a blessing in disguise

Yes I too feel the same.

Now coming back to RTO part, its really high time to start bringing in accountabilty to all the Govt offices. Otherwise, few years from now, they'll even stop working & start demanding - work from home concept

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Hey..feel bad about the accident happened to your sweetie!

While reading abt the RTO fiasco, was confused a moment whether to laugh or feel bad about you!

I hope insurance guys are not going to create any issues stating the registration issues.

yea i felt the same after the Audi guy first told me about this ! I got caught somewhere in between laughing and throwing a fit !
Insurance issues - as i said thankfully, Dad's a professional in the insurance/valuation field so wont be a bother at all. its being worked upon ATM.

Originally Posted by aargee

I realized this after my post; I guess that's the case with all CBU's in India including the CBR's & Busa's. Audi's no exception I guess.


Yes I too feel the same.

Now coming back to RTO part, its really high time to start bringing in accountabilty to all the Govt offices. Otherwise, few years from now, they'll even stop working & start demanding - work from home concept

I second that thought. But then again, its wishful thinking. Govt. offices have found their comfort zones in the way they conduct their jobs so why on earth would they want to change. As i said, in India, its a Cynic's world

[ghodlur]

Isnt these days the RC a Smart card which has the engine/chassis details written clearly. To my knowledge these cards cannot be tampered with. The old RC records which was a computer print can be played with, not the new Smart cards.

BTW, the RC is handed to the owner may be 45-50 days after the car regsitration but the number plates are issued in a couple of days time and this no plate is given only after the documents are submitted at the RTO and an entry is made in their records. Definitely not out of thin air. The dealers intention are doubt worthy is any number plates are fixed to the vehicle.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Isnt these days the RC a Smart card which has the engine/chassis details written clearly. To my knowledge these cards cannot be tampered with. The old RC records which was a computer print can be played with, not the new Smart cards.

BTW, the RC is handed to the owner may be 45-50 days after the car regsitration but the number plates are issued in a couple of days time and this no plate is given only after the documents are submitted at the RTO and an entry is made in their records. Definitely not out of thin air. The dealers intention are doubt worthy is any number plates are fixed to the vehicle.

With the new reg. plate attached yesterday, the RC book might not be with me until mid october assuming itl take around 2months

[Ragtop]

Wow, this is more pervasive than I thought. I got my Audi A4 last August and had a similar issue. 3 months after getting delivery, I took the car in to Shreyans for a minor problem and to my surprise, when I went to collect the car, it had a different number. Apparently, the RTO had issued one number, but some dyslexic from Shreyans had interchanged the numbers and made the new number plate that I had been driving around with for all that time. What really bothered my is that I had to take the car in for a service for this to come to light. Then, they had the audacity to try and charge me for a new number plate!

[shortbread]

Its high time the Govt lets pivate enterprise take over R.T.O services. Its not just the corruption within this department all over the nation, but its how the corruption is both transparent and accepted. Lets not forget that over and above the bribe they eat form each and every vehicle owner the Govt. pays them monthly and after retirement these fat p;gs get pensions paid till they succumb to diabetes, blood pressure, arthiritis or a decaying liver.

Private companies should be allowed to bid for this on a national scale, maybe two or three so that there is always competitive service. Profits should be generated on charges for each new vehicle and subsequent reregistrations or tests and not paid salaries from public funds. They should be held accountable when a taxi or auto that is not roadworthy is still doing rounds on our roads.

Excuse my rant, I know it will only fall on deaf ears.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by WDM007

As for the RC book, I guess it takes more than 3 months, generally for all the cars.

Even in Lowly Ulta Pradesh we get it within two weeks! Maybe we should count our (very few) blessings. Also, the tax receipt is a computerized thing.