Finally, got our new vehicle registration completed this weekend. It turned out to be a simple yet longer process because of lack of communication. It took two Saturdays of presence for me and Latha. Last weekend, we went there for reserving a specific number. We roamed around throughout the day for a couple of things: right documentation from dealer and PAN card in original. There is no mention at RTA (Khairatabad RTA, AP 09) that these are essential for number reservation. So we had to go to the car dealer and then home. In addition to that, I went to the bank in the last minute to get a couple of pay orders done. That took care of the entire first weekend.
Yesterday, after managing the long queue, we were told that the car dealer gave one less form in the documentation. So we had to rush to the dealer again and get the documentation searched and delivered. What could have been a 30 minute activity turned out to be a 3 hour process. In addition to that, copying the chassis number onto the paperwork is a big process for these heavy vehicles like Xylo. I had to get right between the front wheel and engine and transfer the image of the number there on to the paper using a pencil. Finally I managed to a bad job and requested one of the guys at RTA (who does it frequently) to help me there.
In this whole process, I realized that the lack of good communication and better paperwork from the dealer led to me wasting a lot of time. Also, the lack of documented list at the RTA is another cause for the delay. The processes are simple and straight forward. There is absolutely no need for bribes, brokerage or any other incidental charges to get the work done. That entire process made me feel better.
The Khairatabad RTA serves lot of posh areas and there is a mad rush for fancy numbers here. On that day, I have seen auctions for certain numbers go to the order of Rs 45,000. I spent Rs 5000 for a number totaling 9, based on Latha’s interest.