[condor]

Being a life member of AASI, I had approached AASI for a transfer of ownership of my car, along with a change in RTO. They processed it smoothly from their side, and submitted it to the old RTO. I got the Smart card from the new RTO well within the stipulated time.

Now, I had not intimated AASI that the transfer to my name was completed. Today they called up to check.

Feels good to have such services. The total charges for transfer, including RTO fees - Rs 550/-. No other fees paid. And I did not step out other than going to the AASI office.

Btw, AASI also has driver services.

[lamborghini]

Member of WIAA here in India.
Was a member of AAA when I was in the States. Came handy when I was stranded due to a cut tyre and tools that wouldn't fit the bolts. Also, get some discounts on shopping and travelling - always a bonus!

[girishglg]

Had tried to figure out for a long time why some cars have those tiny square yellow metal badge with AA inscribed stuck on to them and yes most of these vehicles were indeed very well maintained. Till now it was my assumption that the Automobile Association spots such immaculatey maintained vehicles and awards them with the badges. However thanks to this very informative thread, it is clear that anyone can become a member of the AA. Apart from their services offered please let know how this membership helps a fellow BHPian. Any current member to AA can throw some more light on the benifits and also does AA have regular meets of vehicle owners and conduct any kind of certifications.

Found this link to AA since the earlier link posted was not working - Automobile Association of Southern India - AASI

[mempheS.D]

SO, thanks to shankar.balan's experience with AASI, I thought I must have this membership. I had been procrastinating this effort for a while until it was time to remove the bank hypothecation on the Thunderbird. PLUS, I needed to turn in an IDP application.

Opportunist me, aint it? I'll admit I am. The enrollment process was very smooth. I turned all the forms duly filled in to remove the hypothecation and paid a fee. I can't recollect exactly but it's definitely not as exorbitant as what the RTO brokers would charge you. Somewhere about 200rs. This is is the actual fee that the RTO charges for such transactions. The AASI may charge a nominal convenience fee about about 25rs/-.

They told me at the time that the process would take about 3 weeks which is the time it would take ideally if I had to do the same at the RTO without a broker involvement. Last evening, which is EXACTLY when the 3 weeks got over, I received a SPEED POST, with the new RC book in there !

Boy am I happy to have enrolled with the AASI. Only constraint is the time involved. There are no shortcuts at all. If you can provide the AASI with all documents needed for the transaction, they will get the work done for you withOUT the bribes and the headache of getting tossed around in a govt office.

The IDP did not pan out well, since mine was a 12 year old DL issued from Kerala in paperback which is fortunately still intact since I carry around a colour photostat of my DL. In order to apply for IDP, they insisted I should have a Karnataka issued DL. They recommended an alternative that I can transfer the DL to KA and then apply for IDP which is a 3 month procedure. So, I opted out of that.

[sgiitk]

I would love to but the UPAA is defunct. Was with the AA in the UK.

[Athani]

I'm a life member of WIAA. Costs 5k. The benefits and services offered are on their website. If you're not too old, the membership would more than pay for itself over time :-)

[honeybee]

I recently became a life member of WIAA.

In April this year, I was bitten by the bug to join up. I went online and tried to pay, but it failed. Two days later I tried again, and this time I could pay the fees online. Thereafter I got a receipt for the same, and a message from WIAA saying someone would get in touch with me over the next week about my membership.

Thereafter started a long wait. The payment had been done towards the middle of April, however even after two weeks, apart from the first email message, there was no other communication. So I first wrote back to the email and informed the sender that no one had contacted me yet.

The next day I received a call from a guy working at WIAA about my membership. After informing him about my payment for life membership, he promised to send across the welcome kit in a couple of days. I texted him my office address, and also texted him a hint to search for it on Google maps.

A couple of days later there is still no welcome kit.

I called up this guy again and he again promised to deliver the welcome kit in a day or two.

This story went on for almost three weeks, at the end of which I ran out of patience. I gave the man a gentlemanly earful, and also PMed GTO to check if I could escalate this matter to someone higher up at WIAA.

Fortunately the welcome kit was delivered the same day, not to my residence as I had requested, but to my office. Since it was a Saturday, I only received it on Monday when I went to office.

As is said: All is well that ends well. Well, the task of securing membership is now over, and I am looking forward to a long association.

The benefits, as can be checked online, are many and seem practical: I can get my paper license replaced with a smart card, get my insurance renewed, get my car windows etched with the registration number of the car (and get a further Rs. 500/- deducted from the insurance premium), and they also pay your traffic fines in various courts on your behalf (my brother quizzed me about how this payment of fine works and whether I have to pay an annual fee to them, till I explained they paid it only on your behalf and it's not covered in the membership fees - you still have to pay back to WIAA the fines). Then there's a 24-hr breakdown service I believe, within city limits.

Apart from these useful and practical benefits, they also claim accommodation at cheaper rates at various rest houses. So all in all it looks to be a good deal.

Ah, and the life membership welcome kit comes with two cans of Red Bull and a couple of pamphlets on tips for safe driving and most common traffic signs. A really good initiative.

[hrman]

I took AASI's membership over a year back. Have used their services for :
1. Transferring my DL from Mumbai to Bangalore
2. Applying for a Two wheeler LL and DL
3. Removal of hypothecation from my Car's RC.

At all times, their service has been great. I also get the satisfaction of not having paid a single rupee as bribe, since once you are a member, their charges for services are pretty nominal.

But there is a catch. They will go by the book. So expect some government kind of delay at times. Usually when you go through agents, the excess money ensures extra speedy service. This is not the case here. And they do not have any tie up with the other Regional AA chapters. Forget that,even within the same Chapter (AASI) between Chennai and Bangalore, they may not support if there is some Chennai RTO work from Bangalore.

For eg: When I needed to get my DL transferred from Mumbai to Bangalore, they cautioned me that in case I need to get an NOC from Mumbai RTO for transfer of the DL, I need to arrange it on my own. They will not do it through WIAA. Fortunately this was not required.

In another case, my sister had taken an NOC for transfer of her Santro from Karnataka to Kolkata. But since she got transferred back in 10 months, she did not cancel the Karnataka NOC. Later on when selling the car, we required to get an NOC from the Kolkata RTO that the vehicle has not been registered there. AASI did not support in this and also said we need to get it from the Kolkata RTO on our own. When we called their East region chapter, got a very lackadaisical response. Finally, we got it done from an agent paying the excess charges.
Now the membership fees have gone up to 10k I think for Life membership. Still worth it. And I have saved close to Rs.3000 so far in my 4 insurance renewals and by avoiding agents. :-)

[TMRT]

Had been a member of AAA in the states. Absolutely a must if you travel a lot. The membership cost is recovered in many ways when you are stranded due to let's say ruining out of fuel, lost car keys, maps, discounts in motels, towing etc.

For Mumbai area can anyone suggest such association worth joining?

[anilp]

Originally Posted by TMRT

For Mumbai area can anyone suggest such association worth joining?

I signed up for WIAA today. The payment was done online. The link is,

http://www.wiaaindia.com/home

[akj123]

Is anyone here a member of Uttar Pradesh AA ? Need their help with NOC procedure but phone numbers don't seem to be working.

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by akj123

Is anyone here a member of Uttar Pradesh AA ? Need their help with NOC procedure but phone numbers don't seem to be working.

The UPAA is defunct, as is evident by a previous post on this very page.

[akj123]

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

The UPAA is defunct, as is evident by a previous post on this very page.

Thanks, I saw that but wanted to re-check as that post is 2 years old.

[Horizon85]

I have been a Life Member of AASI since 2012. I have used their services to get a Driving License, International Driving Permit (thrice), NOC cancellation, etc. At all times, it was a smooth experience.

I remember paying somewhere around 240 for driving license and about 800 for IDP.

The life membership was really cheap when I enrolled at 4.5k back in 2012. Since then, its been hiked every year, now costing almost double at 8k.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by akj123

Is anyone here a member of Uttar Pradesh AA ? Need their help with NOC procedure but phone numbers don't seem to be working.

Seems to be working now. Please see link below. Hope it helps.

http://www.aaui.org/