50,000+ Vehicle Transfer Applications Stuck at Gujarat RTOs

Ahmedabad: Vehicle ownership transfers have come to a complete halt across Gujarat for the past 20 days due to technical issues linked to mandatory Aadhaar authentication introduced in the online transfer process. The disruption has left more than 50,000 transfer applications pending across 39 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in the state.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has discontinued the offline process for vehicle ownership transfers, making the procedure fully online with mandatory Aadhaar-based authentication.

However, officials say the system is facing a major hurdle because details on Aadhaar cards and Registration Certificates (RCs) are often recorded in different formats. While Aadhaar typically lists the name, father’s name, or surname in a single line, RC books record the owner’s name, surname and guardian’s name in separate fields. This mismatch prevents successful authentication in the online system, resulting in thousands of applications being rejected or remaining pending.

It is learnt that the issue has affected the transfer of vehicles across the state, including high-value cars purchased from outside Gujarat. The delay has also impacted government revenue, as ownership transfers cannot be completed.

Former senior transport department officials have expressed concern over the situation, saying the technical glitch should have been resolved before the online-only system was implemented. They warned that if the issue is not addressed immediately, vehicle owners could face additional financial and legal complications related to insurance renewals, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates and RC records.

The Transport Department is yet to announce any interim mechanism to clear the growing backlog of pending vehicle transfer applications. DeshGujarat