I am writing again in this forum after a long long time about something I was anxious about as to how the process would go. I hope this would help many car owners especially in Chennai who have their cars on company lease and are about to remove the hypothecation (HP) and transfer ownership (TO). Also mine was a case where it was hypothecated in RTO (Central) and my residence is in RTO (South). How does one know which RTO one belongs to? There is a pin code to RTO table at the
TN RTO Contact List Part I: Removal of Hypothecation.
Go to the RTO where the hypothecation was done. For me it was RTO Central (Ayannavaram). I reached at 9:45 am. By the way I had read somewhere that they work on Saturdays too but its not for public. As soon as you enter the office on the left side there is a PRO person who checked my docs
a. NOC from financier/company. - 2 copies
b. Form 35 - 2 copies
c. Insurance copy
d. Emission Certificate Copy (Some Petrol pumps have this. I did it at the LB Road Indira Nagar (Adyar) Indian Oil Coco bunk)
e. Original RC
He said he needed a company ID photo copy and I said I have a signed letter from the company stating that they are transferring the vehicle to me and he said that should work. I needed a Rs. 5 revenue stamp (available at the shop across the road) to be stuck on that letter.
f. Company ID / Company Letter
He asked me to pay the fee at the counter which is to the right as soon as you enter the main gate of the building. The fee was Rs. 25.
I gave it on Tuesday. He asked me to come on Friday evening 5 pm. I could not go on Friday and so went on Monday evening. Reached at 4:30 pm. The papers were just lying in the same state that I had given as the person had gone on leave for Diwali. However the other officers were extremely helpful and said they would fix it in 10 min and it was indeed 10-15 minutes. They stuck the note behind the RC which said that the hypothecation was removed. And also the hypothecation lettering on the main-page was struck off.
Part II: Transfer of ownership.
Whats needed:
a. Form 29 - filled up - 2 copies
b. Form 30 - filled up - 2 copies.
c. Insurance Copy
d. Emission certificate Copy
e. Original RC
f. PAN Card
g. Address Proof (I gave my passport)
h. 2 photographs
Now go to the RTO under whose jurisdication your home (address proof) is. Reach at 9:45 am. Again there is a PRO who sits at the entrance. He checked a to h above but then came the shock. He needed 2 copies of the Form 60 (or TIN) of my company. Oops. Whats that? I said I have never heard of it and its not mentioned anywhere. He said - it is downloadable and we can print it and get it signed from the company. I told him the company HO is in Bangalore and would take time etc and that I have an authorization from the company for the transfer. He said I would have to meet the PA to the RTO. The PA also stuck to it but I again repeated my inability or the hardship to get whatever the Form 60 is, he asked me to pay the fee. I went back to the PRO guy and told him that the PA had agreed. The PRO signed on the front page and stapled them all including "i" below.
i. Company Authorization letter.
Went with the stapled doc bundle to the back of the building to the cash counter. There were 4 people ahead of me. Paid Rs.325 fee. We get 2 copies of the fee receipt. One of this needs to be stuck with glue at the front of the doc bundle. The other copy is to be retained by us to be shown at the time of collecting our RC back.
I gave the doc bundle to the Tapal counter next to the cash counter. Today is Tuesday. He asked me to come back next Tuesday evening to collect the RC.
A total of 25 for HP cancellation and 325 for TO.
Some other notes:
- At Sholinganallur office my friend went for HP and TO and he was not asked Form 60. So its slightly different at different RTOs. Also at the HP removal I was asked the ID which I have never read before anywhere.
- Also if your financier has changed names from when the lease started to when it ended - clearly get the NOC mention that. The PRO at Sholinganallur had insisted for another letter which stated that the financier had changed names. My friend insisted that the NOC has "company x - formerly y" mentioned and that should suffice - he did a short visit to the PA to RTO sitting in the next room - no big deal - and got approval from him on the same.
- From Aug 2017 RTO Chennai South no longer issues Smart cards for DL and RC.
- Request for duplicate license can be made online and the procedure for the same was stuck outside RTO South.
- International Driving License is also online. I read it on another notice outside the office.
- RTO Ayannavaram is calm, silent and cool and very helpful and less crowded than RTO South at Tiruvanmiyur. RTO South had everyone come with agents. But all and all - not very difficult.
- RTO Ayannavaram could scare you at first as its up there in the north and you would imagine crowded / narrow / old streets / difficult to navigate and park etc. but I can tell you its none of those and is very easy deal with. Its next to the bus depot and one can easily park. No one is at you asking you not to park etc.
I heard from colleagues that one agent had quoted Rs. 3500 for doing this. Its no big deal guys. You can get it done all by yourself! All the best.