After the recent Supreme Court order regarding modification ban on all kinds of vehicles in India, the Kerala RTO has started cracking down heavily on modified vehicles in the state. Apart from the common checking on the roads for modified vehicles, and even seizing a few bikes in a college show, the Kerala RTO and police are taking up any and every measure to crack down on modified vehicles in the state. This recent flurry of action on modified vehicles has pushed the owners to list their vehicles on online portals to sell away their modified vehicles and recover any amount possible. However, the Kerala RTO is in no mood to allow the same to happen.
The RTO has started watching the online portals in order to identify the owners of modified vehicles. The owners wanted to sell off their modified vehicles to willing customers from other places where the action being taken on modified vehicles is not so severe. The modification process for customers is often very expensive and this move is aimed at getting back some part of the hefty investments they have made. However, the RTO authorities have started sending out notices to the owners who have listed their modified vehicles for sale. These notices urge the owners to remove all aftermarket modifications from their vehicles and bring them to the concerned RTO for an inspection in fully stock form.
An RTO official spoke to a leading daily about the decision to issue notices to prospective sellers and stated,
“Since there is no need for physical verification of a vehicle for intra-state ownership change, we never insist vehicle owners produce their vehicles. But after our drive, several people have started selling their modified vehicles. Since many of them are selling the vehicles in the modified format, we have asked them to produce such vehicles. Only after removing the modified parts, will we issue permission. The manufacturers have set a turning radius for all vehicles, but the alteration changes everything. This will cause accidents. Also, replacing silencers causes environmental pollution. As per the Supreme Court order, vehicle modification is a crime. The drive will continue.”
The RTO has stated that the very vital document NOC (No-Objection Certificate) will only be issued to those prospective sellers who get their vehicles inspected at the RTO in fully stock condition. To let you know, the NOC is a very vital part of a used vehicle sale as the same document enables the new customer to register the vehicle under their name. With the RTO demanding the removal of all modified parts of the vehicle in order to issue the NOC, the path for sale of modified vehicles is effectively blocked.
It remains to be seen as to how the owners of modified vehicles deal with this new move of the Kerala RTO, meanwhile the protest against the blanket ban on modification of vehicles in India had already begun, but it is not clear as to what the next step, from the government or the protestors will be.