Used car has multiple pending fines & challans: Should I still buy it?

There are 7 challans in the "Court" stage, and these have no option for payment.

BHPian wheelspinner recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I am buying a used car from a used car dealer, and it seems to have pending challans. They told me verbally that those would be cleared. But, there's no written assurance.

Is it the right way?

They say that the name transfer isn't going to happen if the challans are unpaid. So, if they don't pay it, will the car name transfer process be stuck? Will I be liable in any way for the challans if they don't pay them? Do I have any recourse? It seems as per the Motor Vehicle Act, the government makes the buyer responsible for delays in the name transfer process and not the dealer.

It is a BHPian-owned car, and so I want to go for it. The car is well maintained. However, there are traffic violations and too many speeding tickets against the car. Some are in court, and there's no option to pay those.

As a first-time car buyer, I need your advice. I was planning to make full payment and take delivery of the car today itself. I was excited, but the excitement diminished because of them acting shady. Although they assured me that challans would be cleared before delivery, they didn't. Then yesterday, they made another statement that they clear challans of cars together and not individually. Does it sound like a scam made to make the buyer pay challans? What do you think?

I don't want to leave the opportunity to buy a good car but at the same time, I don't want to get myself into liabilities of clearing challans due to someone else's carelessness.

Should I leave the process to the dealer? They don't sound reassuring. They haven't given anything in writing.

There are 7 challans in the "Court" stage, and these have no option for payment. How do we clear those? Approximately, how much are we looking at in terms of fines, and other payments like penalties?

What to do in this case?

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

Ask them to clear all the fines including the ones with court proceedings (not just payment for them but a clearance/closure of proceedings for the offence). It is simply not worth your time, money and wasted stress in dealing with those things. Knowing our cops and judicial system, what may seem like minor issues can actually be a huge problem to handle with their harassment.

You’ve rightly identified the red flags, up to you to take a call now.

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

Huge red flag - WALK AWAY!

Fact - Name transfer cannot happen with pending challans. So even if you pay Spinny & get possession of the car, RC will not be in your name.

Also, the challans in court are problematic. There's no assurance as to when those can get cleared, especially now that the previous owner has decided to sell the car.

However good the car is, the pending challans will make your ownership experience sour for sure! Please do not proceed with this car, look for another.

Pro Tip: Tell Spinny that you're backing off and they may magically clear the challans for you! If they don't, then this becomes a dead stock for them as well.

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

Permit me to share a legal/rules-based view on your dilemma:

1. Per the rules of RTO, car ownership transfer won't be permitted till all pending dues have been paid
2. If the matter is in court and not settled in due course then implications may get stringer (depending on the magistrate) for the car owner. In this case, it seems they got a stringer as the court is not accepting any payments. The fines and penalties are now dependent on the magistrate
3. There are 7 challans and if all are in court and unpaid for a long time, then make sure that you have updated yourself on each challan/case. As acquittal in one case may not necessarily procure acquittal in all
4. Do not accept a verbal commitment (to pay the fines) from any 3rd party
5. Ask yourself, would you be willing to invest time and effort in visiting courts and their infrastructure to get a resolution on these challans/cases?

Alternatively, reach out to a broker who may help get closure on these cases for a fee.

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