New Delhi: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said his ministry has formalised the registration process of vintage motor vehicles in India, to promote and preserve the heritage of such vehicles.
The Centre in November last year had said it intends to formalise the registration process of the vintage motor vehicles and had sought public comments for proposed rules regarding this.
"With an aim to preserve and promote the heritage of vintage vehicles, the MoRTH has formalised the registration process of vintage motor vehicles in India," Gadkari said in a series of tweets.
With no existing rules for regulating the process of registration across different states, he said the new rules shall provide a hassle-free process along with salient features such as retention of old numbers for already-registered vehicles and a 'VA' series (unique registration mark) for fresh registrations.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had invited public comments for proposed rules on registering vintage vehicles.
"The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published GSR 734 (E) dated November 25, 2020, seeking comments and suggestions in regards to an amendment to CMVR, 1989, relating to vintage motor vehicles," it had said.
CMVR stands for Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
The draft rules define vintage motor vehicles as all those vehicles that are two-wheelers and four-wheelers (non-commercial and personal use) and are more than 50 years old from the date of their first registration (including imported vehicles).
There is a restriction in the definition on a substantial overhaul of the vehicles that include modification in chassis or body shell, and/or engine.
A vintage motor vehicle is allowed to run on Indian roads only for display, technical research or taking part in a vintage car rally, refuelling and maintenance, exhibitions, vintage rallies, and to and fro to such exhibition or car rally.
The government had said the objective is to preserve and promote the heritage of old vehicles in India.
