Auctioned old government vehicles will not have ‘G’ in registration number

CHENNAI: Old government vehicles auctioned to individuals will no longer bear registration numbers containing the alphabet ‘G’, reserved for use by government-owned vehicles.

After a TOI report on such vehicles being misused for smuggling logs and unaccounted cash during elections, the state transport department sent a proposal to issue fresh registration numbers to the vehicles. The state government, on September 24, accepted it and issued necessary orders.

The state motor vehicles maintenance department, functioning under the transport department, is authorised to auction every government-owned vehicle after it completes 10 years of use or has covered 2 lakh km (8 lakh km in hilly areas).

According to data, more than 1,500 such vehicles are auctioned every year, of which 40% are cars and SUVs. Once the vehicles are sold, the ownership is transferred to the buyer, but the vehicles continue to bear the same registration number with the all-important ‘G’. G-series number plates are reserved for state-owned vehicles as per a 2014 HC order.

This loophole, came in handy and several such vehicles were used to transport money illegally during the 2016 Tamil Nadu assembly election, said K Kathirmathiyon, a consumer rights’ activist in his complaint to the government. TOI on April 25 reported that demand for these vehicles shot up so much that bidders were ready to pay 30%-60% higher than base price.

“No official in the police, transport, forest or commercial taxes departments will stop these G-series vehicles. Some of the vehicles even used the exemption provided for government vehicles at toll gates,” Kathirmathiyon added. Even if they are stopped for checking on suspicion, there was no online mechanism in April for enforcement authorities to check the genuineness of claims made by drivers at check posts.

Putting an end to this, Niranjan Mardi, additional chief secretary to the government, issued orders stating that the registration number (G-series) assigned to government-owned or state transport undertaking vehicles will cease to exist after being sold through auctions. “Instead, they will be considered as vehicles without registration mark and a new number will be assigned under rule 57 (2) of Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989,” the order added.