Bought a new car but want to register it in a different state

On April 19, Delhi went into lockdown, and I was informed that government offices are also shut.

BHPian greenh0rn recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Dear fellow BHPians, need your advice regarding my new car registration in Delhi.

Summary of the issue

• Car purchased from Kerala on April 16, need to register in Delhi
• The temp registration was valid for a month and expired on May 15, during lockdown
• Kerala is still under lockdown and my dealer says he can only check for renewal of temp registration once lockdown relaxes
• I am going to be in Delhi next week, and want to register the car. Is it doable?
• As I expect the registration fee to be around 4L, how do we make this payment instantly? I can do a RTGS from bank but it will take either a visit to nearest bank branch, or 1 day for net banking after cooling off period

Any advice welcome.

Long story

I live in Delhi and run my own company. In mid April, I bought one of the last few Octavia RS245s from a dealer in Kozhikode (EVM Skoda). I flew down to Kozhikode, took the delivery on April 16 (the dealer got me temporary registration on the same day), and then drove back to Delhi.

On April 19, Delhi went into lockdown, and I was informed that government offices are also shut. Also, Delhi's Covid situation was worsening and on May 2, after repeated pleas from my family, I drove to Amritsar in my other car (Polo GT TSI), and have been here ever since.

Delhi relaxed its lockdown from this week and I am guessing the RTO office would be also open now. I also expect more relaxations from next week. Accordingly, I am planning to visit Delhi for this work, and get the car registered. In the meantime, the temporary registration issued by Kerala RTO would have expired on May 15 (one month after April 16).

Hence my questions:

• Would the Delhi RTO allow registration of a car with expired temporary registration, by taking lockdown as an excuse?
• If Kerala continues with its lockdown for a few more weeks, do I keep waiting for temporary registration renewal, and hence postpone my trip?
• My guesstimate for the car registration fee for RS245 is around 3.8-4.3 lakh. Question is: how do we make this payment instantly? Does the RTO accept cheques or RTGS?

Any advice for these questions would be really appreciated.

The car will be registered in company name. Does this change anything for me?

Here's what BHPian androdev had to say on the matter:

Payment has to be through a demand draft.

I would engage a reliable RTO agent in Delhi and let him handle the whole process. DIY only if you have too much free time on your hands.

Here's what BHPian Altocumulus had to say on the matter:

I would say either take the help of a reliable RTO agent or why don't you visit a Skoda showroom and ask if they can help.

Here's what BHPian Heart_Revs had to say on the matter:

Visit the RTO with your new shiny car and the agents will flock you. Select anyone at random as Mr X is as good as Mr Y. They will of course charge their commission but they know how to get the work done, especially when there is a twist in the story like in your case. These guys know the workaround and whom to approach when there is a "special" requirement beyond the normal procedure.

Here's what BHPian anjan_c2007 had to say on the matter:

To get your car registered in Delhi, it would be preferable to first of all find out a reliable RTO agent through your Delhi contacts.

Please contact the Skoda or VW dealer near you, as they usually have a fixed agent who undertakes such jobs for the sold cars from the showroom. This person can guide you about the processes involved and the documents required and the fees payable.

The Union Transport Ministry (though they soon intend to slaughter old car and bike owners with hefty renewal fees, they have done some good deeds too) has liberally relaxed deadlines for license renewal, 15 year fitness renewal (till 30/06/2021) and so on and the agent would also know about the temporary registration validity / extension of validity.

It is always preferable to go through a known and verified agent, as he will be in possession of your car's original papers for sometime and after all it's Delhi!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.