[Chhanda Das]

Govt eases rules to help disabled register vehicles

NEW DELHI: The road transport ministry has asked states to register vehicles owned by people with disabilities under the ownership category of “Divyangjan” and extend necessary tax benefits, instead of insisting on only new and adapted vehicles for extending these benefits to them.
Persons with disabilities who own a vehicle and hire a driver can’t be deprived of getting the vehicle registration under the “Divyangjan” category. This means now it is the ownership of the vehicle and not the type of vehicle that will be the deciding factor for registration under the “Divyangjan” category.

The ministry issued the circular on Friday after receiving several complaints citing how the state registering authorities were not recording ownership type as “Divyangjan” in the registration certificate of vehicles owned by such persons. This deprives them from availing GST and road tax benefits, and exemptions such as paying toll on highways.

The ministry has said that state authorities can’t refuse such an application.

It said these conditions include a person with disability hiring a driver with a valid licence. Second, a Divyangjan may not be able to afford a new vehicle and once he applies for registration of the vehicle in his name, it should be registered under the ownership category of “Divyangjan”. The third condition is of a vehicle owner becoming physically disabled and then applying for change in the ownership category. In that case too, the registration authorities must change the ownership category to “Divyangjan”.

Vehicles owned by people with 40% disability are eligible for registration under the ownership category of “Divyangjan”.

News source : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/97591558.cms

[Aditya]

Government of India eases vehicle registration rules for disabled people - Post moved to a new thread.

[Everlearner]

I appreciate the intent, but this will also lead to many people abusing this. If someone has a disabled relative, he/she can register the car in that person's name and get tax benefits.

BTW, can someone give insight into what sort of benefits are given in the divyang category registrations?

[MS_Auto]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

I appreciate the intent, but this will also lead to many people abusing this. If someone has a disabled relative, he/she can register the car in that person's name and get tax benefits.

BTW, can someone give insight into what sort of benefits are given in the divyang category registrations?

If you see records of how many concession certificates were issued across the country (Source), you would be pleasently surprised that it is about 338 for 2019-20.
Plus if you allow a relative to avail the benefits on your behalf, you would miss out for next 5 years since this is available only once in 5 years per person.

Coming to the benefits that can be availed:
1. Concessional GST @ 18% as against standard 28%
2. Nil Cess as against Cess ranging between 1% to 22%
3. Road Tax waiver
4. Toll Waiver
5. Discount on Insurance (Not sure how much, if any.)

[BattleHardened]

State/UT Govts of Chandigarh, West Bengal, New Delhi Offer Road Tax Exemption to DIVYANGJAN Category of Vehicles. UT of J&K doesn't offer any benefit.

Which all other states are providing Road Tax Exemption to DIVYANGJAN Category Registration?

[careind]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

I appreciate the intent, but this will also lead to many people abusing this. If someone has a disabled relative, he/she can register the car in that person's name and get tax benefits.

The implementation process is so exhausting that only a person with strong will can last the journey . So misuse would be limited.

Originally Posted by Chhanda Das

Persons with disabilities who own a vehicle and hire a driver can’t be deprived of getting the vehicle registration under the “Divyangjan” category. This means now it is the ownership of the vehicle and not the type of vehicle that will be the deciding factor for registration under the “Divyangjan” category.

** Long post warning
I am a Left above knee amputee who just went through the wringer in Tamil Nadu, and believe you me when I say that it is 10x times difficult and more strenuous than for a regular person.

The intent is good from MORTH. But MORTH does not have control over the individual state transport commissioner and this is where everything turns grey.

The process I followed for registering a non- GST waiver qualified vehicle would also be a part of the narrative, in case any one needs it in future.

The said circular was issued in late 2020 itself by MORTH. But many states have still not converted this into GO and so RTOs are happily following 1970s issued GOs with some amendments.
The RC in TN does not even have the ownership category column for "Divyangjan" ( as against INDIVIDUAL) in TamilNadu.

Earlier, at least in the RTO perspective, you are considered to be a Divyangjan ONLY if you register the vehicle as an "Invalid Carriage". Now they have changed it to "Adaptive Vehicles".
But even then, you NEED to make modifications to the vehicle to be registered as such. So it is the Vehicle that needs to be validated rather than the person, which breaks the spirit of the rule.

Then there is this whole Central Government/ State Government thing going on. This is not a simple "I have got a central government issued Unique Disability ID card, so please consider" kind of a scenario with the issuing RTO.

One has to prove to the RTO that they are a Divyangjan. For that the RTO needs a certificate of sorts from the STATE Office of the Welfare for differently abled.
For them to give the Documentation, one has to get a certificate from the District rehabilitation center of their district AFTER undergoing an examination ( as they dont consider certificate older than 5 years) .
And each center has heir own Queer way of going about it. In some Places they do this ONLY on Wednesdays or any one weekday. In some places you have to do registration between 8 AM and 9 AM only for the examination to happen. And the list would be more as most Govt. offices are very innovative when it comes to harassing the public.

Then comes the actual registration part.

If one is eligible for a GST waivable model ( < 1200/1500 CC, sub 4 meter, < 7L ( I think) ) one needs to book the vehicle and apply for certificate in the Ministry of Heavy Industries which would get approved taking its own time.
The site is https://gecs.heavyindustries.gov.in . Here the manufactures and models are preloaded.

If the chosen model does not have GST waiver, then we can give this step a skip.

But remember that even if you get the waiver, you would still need to mechanically modify the vehicle to qualify for registering it as Adaptive vehicle.

In Tamilnadu, there is no way one can register as Divyangjan because the category is not recognized as Transport Commissioner is yet to send out that GO ( or at least my RTO did not know ).

After all this hullabaloo, you would need to apply for "Exempted Fastag" from IHMCL. For that you need to upload RC, proof for Exemption to the portal.
Based on that the Regional Officer from NHAI would verify in Vahan/RC that the vehicle is registered as "Adaptive" or the Ownership Category as "Divyangjan" and sends it to the Central Office.

My original application got rejected because the RO couldnt find the "Divyangjan" keyword in the Vahan portal.

In my case, I could not register my vehicle as Adaptive because I did not want to make Jugaad mechanical changes to my XUV700 AT AWD and so I paid the Registration Charges when met with resistance from RTO. I cited the MORTH Circular for which the RTO replied that they havent gotten the GO from State Transport Commissioner.

The workaround which I found was that there is something called the RC extract. This is nothing but form24 duly filled and signed by the RTO that comes for a Rs.50 fee. I got the RTO to write Ownership Category as "Divyangjan" and got the official seal in the RC extract (Form24).

I uploaded that along with my RC in the portal and finally the RO approved it. Again there was not much response for a month. Then Raised a public Grievance in pgportal.gov.in without much hope. But surprisingly it worked and the process was taken to completion.

So, the path of least resistance would be
1) Notwithstanding the circulars, better to go for a sub 4 M/ Sub 7L vehicle and get the GST waiver from https://gecs.heavyindustries.gov.in
2) Make some mechanical modifications ( in Govt. Certified workshop )
3) Register as "Adaptive Vehicle"
4) Apply for Pan india Exempted Fastag at https://exemptedfastag.nhai.org/exemptedfastag

Skipping any of the step would have its own implications in the turnaround time and tiresome workarounds.

[ssateesh]

Originally Posted by careind

The implementation process is so exhausting that only a person with strong will can last the journey . So misuse would be limited.



** Long post warning
I am a Left above knee amputee who just went through the wringer in Tamil Nadu, and believe you me when I say that it is 10x times difficult and more strenuous than for a regular person.
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Sir, Thank you for the detailed post. It's very useful. If I understood right you were only able to get fastag exemption. If one selects a sub 4M/7L vehicle you could also get GST waiver. Further if you modify it as adaptive vehicle you could also get registration charge waiver?
Also could you share a link to MORTH circular?

[careind]

Originally Posted by ssateesh

Sir, Thank you for the detailed post. It's very useful. If I understood right you were only able to get fastag exemption. If one selects a sub 4M/7L vehicle you could also get GST waiver. Further if you modify it as adaptive vehicle you could also get registration charge waiver?
Also could you share a link to MORTH circular?

Glad it was useful. Some points to clarify.
You would get 10% GST waiver . That would mean 18% as against 28%.
Normally, if you have GST waiver for your vehicle then registration would also be waived. But different RTOs interpret it differently. Best to spend some time with the local RTO before itself.
When I last checked, MORTH circular was not available online. You can raise a public grievance in the PG portal cited in the main thread and they would attach the circular . It would create paper trail if needed later.
There is a clear MORTH circular that as long as your ownership type is registered as divyangjan you can also enjoy registration waiver.
There are precedents in Chennai high court where ruling is clear that any benefits should be extended on the basis of the person and not based on the vehicle. So if the utility value of registration amount is higher, you can fight it in court.
You will win in court if RTO doesn’t abide by it. I didn’t take that route because of the legal process

[fawad0222]

@Moderators, request you to kindly transfer this thread to the bigger thread concerning physically disabled, for cars registration, and other benefits.