RTO officials have been directed to strictly inspect papers submitted by distributors for registration certificates.
AS officials with the Regional Transport Office (RTO) failed to rein in automobile dealers who loot buyers by squeezing out thousands of rupees in the name of “handling charges”, the state government has issued a government resolution (GR) terming levying of such charges over and above registration fee as illegal and a violation of motor vehicle laws.
As per officials, the government has taken a cognizance after receiving complaints about vehicles distributors collecting exorbitant amount from customers in the name of “handling charges”. The government has strictly warned dealers not to charge any amount over the vehicle price and taxes apart from registration fees, which has to be paid to the RTO.
“The vehicles dealers are charging extra amount from customers buying two-wheelers and four-wheelers. There were reports in the newspapers about dealers looting the buyers in the name of ‘handling charges’. It has been made clear that the dealers can not charge anything over the price of the vehicle apart from taxes and registration fee as decided by the government. Distributors should levy only these two charges and should not take any extra money from the buyers,” says the directive.
It has also directed the RTO officials to conduct checks that no automobile dealer is charging “handling charges” from the buyers. It has also directed the RTO officials to strictly inspect the documents submitted by the distributor for obtaining the registration certificates. “Only after confirming this, the registration number should be issued,” said the GR.
According to the sources from RTO, there have been many cases recently where dealers charge anything between Rs 2,000 to Rs 5000, depending on the vehicle, in the name of “handling charges”. The dealers are charging these fees by telling the customers that they need to pay “extra money to the RTO officials for speedy clearance of the registration request”.
“We will take action if received complaint for handling charges. A customer has to be aware while purchasing vehicle and should ask for a receipt. If the dealer is charging amount for registration, tax etc, the dealer should justify the amount he charges. For example, if registration fee is Rs 300 and Rs 3,000 is tax, the customer should get these receipt. If dealers are charging more than this, they (customers) should ask for receipt. The documents comes to us for verification. If we found any irregularity, we will file case against the dealer,” said Babasaheb Ajri, RTO, Pune.