Goa introduces online registration of non-transport vehicles

Panaji, May 10 (UNI) Goa today became the first State in the country to have introduced on-line motor vehicle registration for non-transport vehicles at the dealer level.

''This is one of the typical examples of private-public participation in the transport sector, which is poised to introduce smart cards for vehicle owners with their data embededed in a 4 kb chip,'' State Transport Minister Pandurang Madkaikar said.

Talking to mediapersons after launching the electronic motor vehicle registration (EMVR) system here, Minister said ''the Government has spent Rs 8.5 lakh for preparing the software through the public sector - Goa Electronics Limited, in collaboration with the Bangalore-based Maruti-IT.com Limited''.

In the first phase, the dealer would be given a limited power of completing all registration formalities on-line, including the collection of road tax, registration fee, besides allotting the vehicle number (ordinary or choice) instantly to the customer.

In the next phase, a recognised dealers' representative would be given power to act as a ''registering authority'' to sign the RC books to facilitate the public further.

The authorities will soon issue portable electronic smart card readers to facilitate the transport officials and police to read the data about the vehicle owner or licence holder in case of accidents, so that necessary information about the mishaps could be uploaded into the cards.

''The cards would initially be given to the new vehicle owners and later to others, with total computerisation of the transport department to be completed by this year's end,'' Mr Madkaikar said.

''This electronic smart card and on-line registration system would reduce, if not eliminate the interface between the customer and the department, besides paving for total transparency of the sector that facilitates enforcement of the Right to Information Act,'' State Transport Secretary Raajiv Yeduvanshi added.

If necessary, more data related to the vehicle-owner, including his employment details could be embedded into the smart cards in future, he further added.

At present, there are 5.2 lakh registered vehicles in the State, with 30,000 to 35,000 vehicles being registered annually. About 10 per cent of them, transport vehicles and the rest non-transport.

Also underway is introduction of 'high-security number plates' (HSNP) for the vehicles, likely to be ready in the next two months.

Soon after total computerisation of the transport department, the vehicle owners could pay all types of fee and taxes on-line. The Government had collected Rs 75 crore by way of vehicle tax last fiscal, more than the target, and the on-line system would boost the revenue further, Mr Yeduvanshi said.

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