The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in India has decided to extend the deadline for the validity of vehicle documents that were set to expire after 1 February onwards. This extension comes as the nationwide lockdown has made it hard for people to make payments for registration, and even renew their driving licenses. This essentially means all the vehicles and drivers on the road whose documents have expired over the past few months, can continue to use them till 31 July without having to pay additional charges or being fined for driving with expired documents.
The update was shared via atweet by the road transport Ministry on Sunday, which said:The fees paid on or after February 1, 2020, for the activity(s) including renewal of documents and in case such activity(s) is not completed due to conditions for prevention of COVID-19 pandemic, the fees paid shall continue to remain valid.” The deadline was first extended up to 30 June but it seems the fourth version of the nationwide lockdown has forced the Ministry to extend its notification order to 31 July. “If there is a delay in paying the fees from 1st of Feb, 2020 till the period of lockdown there would not be any additional or late fee to be charged for such delays till 31st July 2020.”
The documents complying with this order include driving license, vehicle registration certification or RC, fitness certificate of any vehicle (BS-IV mostly) and few others. Interestingly, the order doesn’t insurance of vehicles but we’re hoping that is included as well. The extension was expected since most government offices and RTOs have been shut since March, while businesses have not been operating either.
The auto sector is slowly getting back on its feet, with the likes of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai resuming operations last week, and Toyota confirming its resumption from later this week. The deadline extension for documents will be a relief for many, who must have been hoping for quick solution as operations have been halted all this while.