[revved_up]

Hi All,

Today returning from work I was following a 7 series. I noticed some unusual things about it:
- It had an "Intelligent Hybrid 7" emblem at the back and no other usual emblems
- It was HR 26 DD series which is a fairly new series. I was surprised why is the previous gen 7 running on latest series.



Date of Picture: 24 Nov 2017
Location: Gurgaon Delhi Expressway, Rajokri Flyover
Time: Around 5pm

This prompted me to do a quick check on Vaahan and I got another surprise. Below is what i got:

HR26DD2911 [SDM-I NORTH,HR]
Owner:1-BMW INDIA PVT LTD.
Vehicle:BMW X5(DIESEL)
Motor Car
RC/FC Expiry:29-Mar-32
MV Tax upto:(OneTime)
-Courtesy:MoRTH/NIC


Now, i had few questions:
- Why would a car owned by BMW India sport wrong plates?
- Is this a possible case of tax evasion by BMW India in either of the below methods:
- Running multiple cars(some of them unregistered) on same plate?
- Running a more expensive car registered as a comparatively cheaper car?

Kindly share your thoughts.

[MinivanDriver]

May be the computer systems at the RTO did not include an option to select the correct model? Taxes would be calculated on invoice value and therefore may have been paid correctly? Interesting case though.

[v12]

Nice find revved_up. I know that dealer plates (Beware: Fake registration numbers on Imported Cars (proof on Pg 3)) (temp plates) are used across various cars for a specific dealer. But this is definitely not a dealer plate and ideally should not be used. The only reason I feel this would have happened is that the 7 Series was not registered with the RTO and is using a 2017 X5 registration. Maybe the intention was to not get caught for driving a 2 year car on temp plates.

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

May be the computer systems at the RTO did not include an option to select the correct model? Taxes would be calculated on invoice value and therefore may have been paid correctly? Interesting case though.

I doubt the RTO did not have 7 Series listed in their selection since most of the other 7 Series have been registered as 7 Series. Take the example if this Active Hybrid 7.

HR26CH7300 [SDM-I NORTH,HR]
Owner:2-*********
Vehicle:BMW 730 LD(PETROL)
Motor Car
RC/FC Expiry:13-Jul-29
Finance:KOTAK MAHINDRA PRIME LTD
MV Tax upto:13-Jul-29(OneTime)
-Courtesy:MoRTH/NIC

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

May be the computer systems at the RTO did not include an option to select the correct model? Taxes would be calculated on invoice value and therefore may have been paid correctly? Interesting case though.

Looks to have been registered in March 2017. But the car is of the older generation.

Strange indeed if a big company like BMW is indulging in such tax evasion practises.

[v12]

It had a "Intelligent Hybrid 7" emblem at the back and no other usual emblems

I think it says "Active Hybrid" and not "Intelligent Hybrid".

[vap2151]

That seems to be a bit odd as the car should be mentioned properly in the details on the vahan service. IMHO it could be a case of number transfer as the number of the 7 series was exchanged with the one on the X5 and it still might not be updated on the Vahan Service.

But an old car having a latest registration number is very common in gurgaon as most of the owners including my self pay fee for special numbers and want to retain them for our next car. Therefore during that process of transfer the numbers of the cars are exchanged and the old car gets the number from the new series.

Hope it clears some doubt about the Latest registration No. on the Old car.

[vinayrathore]

Originally Posted by vap2151

That seems to be a bit odd as the car should be mentioned properly in the details on the vahan service. IMHO it could be a case of number transfer as the number of the 7 series was exchanged with the one on the X5 and it still might not be updated on the Vahan Service.

But an old car having a latest registration number is very common in gurgaon as most of the owners including my self pay fee for special numbers and want to retain them for our next car. Therefore during that process of transfer the numbers of the cars are exchanged and the old car gets the number from the new series.

Hope it clears some doubt about the Latest registration No. on the Old car.

A private individual doing this makes sense on sentimental grounds, however, a corporate and a car manufacturer doing this?

Doesn't it sound a bit odd?

[tud]

I would give it partly to RTO error. Vahan portal lists out Porsches and Lamborghinis as OTHERS under vehicle name. And this being an Intelligent Hybrid 7 was not listed while a regular 7 would have been listed. Having said that, even if its an RTO error, it should have been registered under 7 series and not an X5.

Another reason could be the Admin/Transport team of BMW "India" who would have come up with this idea of playing with same number plate across a few vehicles which they presume wouldn't be running together on the same road/route at any given point of time.

[batman]

I think it could be a typographical error; Recently when I checked the status of my Old 2006 model of Swift (Petrol), that I sold 3 years back, I noticed that the 'Fuel Type' was mentioned as a 'Diesel'. Considering that there was no Swift 'Diesel' variant in the market during my time of purchase and the RC hard copy had correct details, this must have crept into the system during the name transfer; Proof for how our RTO's works!

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by revved_up

- It was HR 26 DD series which is a fairly new series. I was surprised why is the previous gen 7 running on latest series.

One possibility is malpractice as doubted by few others here.

2nd is the case of error from RTO side + unsold previous gen vehicle registered recently.

PS: My mechanic's Bajaj CT100 has Pulsar 150 in the RC book. This is quite common with our RTOs

[GTO]

This is not an error by Vaahan or the RTO. This generation's production ended in 2016, but it is running on 2017 plates. That itself is enough to prove that BMW is illegally & wilfully using the wrong plates on this car.

A model mismatch is sometimes common with imports, but this one is easy to catch as it's a time mismatch.

Someone please send this thread url to the Delhi & Haryana Police.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by GTO

This is not an error by Vaahan or the RTO. This generation's production ended in 2016, but it is running on 2017 plates. That itself is enough to prove that BMW is illegally & wilfully using the wrong plates on this car.

It is possible that registration is legal.

A common scenario is to keep cars within the plant for as test mules for component or other engineering tests.

After some time, car can be taken out of plant (by paying relevant excise etc) and run on public roads.

In a post, DB Sir had mentioned a similar scenario for erstwhile PAL plant in Mumbai (A car that was lying in plant for years was taken out for some purpose after paying various taxes).

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

It is possible that registration is legal.

A common scenario is to keep cars within the plant for as test mules for component or other engineering tests.

After some time, car can be taken out of plant (by paying relevant excise etc) and run on public roads.

For that - you have specific manufacturer plates - Red background

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by GTO

Someone please send this thread url to the Delhi & Haryana Police.

Gurgaon Traffic Police is quite active on FB, but they insist on date and time for registering a complaint. I guess OP could add the date/time on the photo itself and post to the Gurgaon traffic police page - http://www.facebook.com/GurugramPolice or email them dcp.trafficggn[at]hry[dot]nic[dot]in

Edit: Source

[blackwasp]

Possibility 1 - An error in installing the number plates. Usually only the last four digits are mentioned in most places - e.g. keychains, internal papers, gate pass etc. It is highly possible that both the 7 series and the X1 have the 2911 number. Some person might have incorrectly installed the plates on the two cars.

Possibility 2 - The car is owned by BMW, but maybe used by some executive who wanted to retain the old number on his new X5. So he got the numbers swapped, but the RTO website didn't get updated.

For our car, it took almost 10 months for the number to show details online. And a similar time for the RC book to be sent home.