The union government is planning to launch a digital national vehicle registry portal called Vahan.
What is it Vahan?
Vahan intends to collate all the information available with road transport authorities for easy access by both citizens and regulators.
Data available with over 90 per cent of all road transport authorities have been computerised for this purpose.
Vahan contains about 21.68 crore vehicle records in its repository.
Vahan allows access to all details related to vehicles such as registration number, chassis/engine number, body/fuel type, colour, manufacturer and model and provides various online services to citizens.
Driving Licence and related data are automated through a separate application called ‘Sarathi’.
What are its significance?
It helps in centralisation of data through the creation of the State and National Registries under Vahan.
It also helps address the needs of RTOs, police and motor insurers.
It has been customised to suit the varied requirements of all States and Union Territories.
Vahan has been designed to capture all the information mandated by the Central Motor Vehicle Act 1988 as well as State Motor Vehicle Rules.
Banks, which may have given out loans for vehicle purchases, will also have access to the National/State Registry to track the status of vehicles under lien.
What are the advantages of the initiative?
With Vahan, multiple visits to the RTO, extensive paperwork, queues, middlemen and bribes, will be eliminated
Vahan helps carry out most of the RTO related transactions including payments in online which makes the process transparent.
The need for ‘No objection certificate’ for transfers will be eliminated since all RTOs will have access to the centralised data.
