104. Register new car in India

Q: Hello Sir/Madam, I am an NRI from the US (US Citizen) with a valid PIO card wants to purchase a small car. I tend to spend 4-5 months a year in India and due to transportation convenience want to purchase a car via car loan. My car loan has been approved, paid and my portion of the payment has been made to the car dealer Hyundai but the company is unable to get my number registered through Mumbai RTO. Believe in order to register a car one needs ID proof/Nationality Proof, or LIC or Voting Card. I don't have any of these because I tend to spend less time in India than US and never had the requirement to change my status. Hyundai believes that if RTO comes to know I do not have Indian citizenship, RTO will not register my car and it will work against me. In order to prove my authenticity I have given a copy of original sale agreement, possession letter of my property in India (which proves my current address), current electricity paid bill, current MTNL paid phone bill, society maintenance current bill, current NRO/NRI bank statement from last 12 months, my IT returns ( I have rental income from Indian property) for the last 2 years to the car dealer. And I am trying to repeatedly inform them to use PIO card to show my identity/nationality proof as well as evidence, but the company has never dealt with my kind of situation and hesitating thinking if by producing PIO card it will clearly indicate I am not an Indian citizen (true), and I will be denied this right of registering a vehicle in my name. Is it true? Is it illegal for a foreign national with a valid PIO card and above documents to buy a car in India under his/her name? Can you suggest me if there's anyway I can help from my end to convince the RTO collector/registrar and Hyundai car dealer who's unaware of PIO card? Your help will be greatly appreciated. A. To register a new car your Hyundai Dealer should already have most of the documents such as Invoice, insurance , Sales tax payment, Financiers letter, PUC certificate, Form - 20 which is application for new registration. You need to provide proof of address and it appears you have done already so by providing your utility bills etc. The only thing that I see missing is your PAN number which you obviously don't have. Every individual who is buying a car in India is required to furnish their PAN Number. For people such as you, who do not have a PAN card, you are required to submit a duly filled Form No: 60 and this should be acceptable by the RTO office. You can see a sample of Form 60 by clicking HERE. Your dealer should provide you with a copy of this form to fill out. I know proof of address is required but proof of nationality to register a car is a new one to me. I think you have given far too much information to your car dealer. Bank statements etc are not required by RTO offices. I am also providing the link to the website of the Transport Department of Maharashtra State showing requirements for registering a new car HERE It explains clearly the requirements of registering a new vehicle in the State of Maharashtra. Follow-up: Thanks a million for your timely response. Your site has abundance resources for people like us. I had forgotten to add in my earlier response mentioning that I do have a PAN card which is also mandatory to file IT returns. However, the best news is finally the RTO has approved my registration and I got my car yesterday. It took me over 2 months just to get a car in India despite submitting all legal documents. Without resource from your site I would have never known the requirement details from Maharashtra Transport. Once again, thanks for your help. Best regards Kajal Thanks for your response. Glad we could help. Being an OCI holder myself, I have had first hand experience buying and registering a car in India. I actually also had the registration done in Maharashtra and did not have any problems in doing so. I guess the dealer you bought your car from was not familiar with proper registration rules and regulations. Enjoy your car!

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