Second hand vehicle dealers asked to maintain list of clients

New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) With frequent use of stolenvehicles for crimes in the city, Delhi police today made itmandatory for dealers of second-hand vehicles to maintain aregister of their sellers and purchasers besides keeping theirphotographs.

This move comes in the backdrop of several incidentswhere stolen vehicles were used in crimes and were sold andchanged hands many times without any documents making itdifficult for investigators to trace the culprits.

According to the order, a senior police official said,the dealers and agents will have to maintain a register ofsellers and purchasers of all transactions of second handvehilces and affix photographs of their clients in it.

Dealers are also asked to keep the identificationpapers of their customers like election I-card, PAN card,driving licence besides copies of Form 29 (date oftransaction) and Form 30 (on transaction).

"Not filing the Form 29 and Form 30 results in thetransfer of vehicle to a number of purchasers before theactual transfer of vehicle in the records of TransportAuthority," the official said.

According to Section 50 of Motor Vehicles Act of 1988,the transfer of vehicle should be reported to the TransportAuthority within 14 days for local transfer and 45 days forinter-district transfer.

Investigators feel that second-hand vehicles used incrime are sold to several purchasers through dealers andagents. "It is very difficult to find the person who had usedthe vehicle in commission of crime," he said.

The official said the order came after finding outthat such dealers were not keeping any record of transactionsmaking it difficult for the police to crack several cases.

"There is a need for a regulatory check on the vehicledealers who deal in sale and purchase of such vehicles so thatanti-social elements will not sell stolen vehicles throughthem," he said.

Those violating the order for the first time will facepunishment of upto one month or a fine of Rs 200 or both. Thesecond offence will mean punishment upto six months and a fineof Rs 2,000.

The official said the car dealers many a times get thesignature of the seller in a blank form 29 and 30. "What theydo is that they don''t get the vehicle registered in theirname.

"They will sell it and enter the name of their buyer.

In this process, there is no proof that the car dealer wasinvolved in the business. This is against law as it clearlystipulates that the transaction should be done with in 14days," the official said.