DTC begins deeper probe into unauthorised transfer of vehicles in Anantapur

Technical lacuna could have led to the ownership transfers, says DTC

The Department of Road Transport has begun a deeper probe into how 28 vehicles in the State could be transferred to a third party while the original owner was dead or transferred under the “Death TO” category on the Citizen Portal even while the owner was alive, following the expose made by The Hindu in these columns in one such case pertaining to Anantapur.

Anantapur Deputy Transport Commissioner N. Sivaram Prasad told The Hindu that their commissionerate had sent a letter to them to probe further into some doubtful transactions - eight of them pertaining to Anantapur RTA from where a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) was obtained for registering the vehicles in the name of owners residing in some other districts/States, while three vehicles came from other districts and got registered here. The majority of the other vehicles pertain to the Visakhapatnam RTA.

Transfer of a vehicle owned by a person, who is dead, can be done only by a legal heir by uploading a death certificate of the owner, legal heir certificate, and an NOC of the financier. The buyer, the legal heir and the financier need to give their thumb impression or “biometrics”. “But when you choose the option of transferring a vehicle under the “Death” category, it seems to be not asking for biometrics, which led to such a transfer and we are probing into it and shall correct it,” Mr. Sivaram Prasad said.

Meanwhile, he said a criminal case would be filed against the persons involved in the transfer of the maxi cab of one K. Madhavi Latha, who died in 2019. The Regional Transport Officer, Proddutur, where this particular vehicle was transferred to, for the new owner to register there, has sent a notice to seller K. Madhavi Latha (who is dead now), buyer K. Ramachandra Reddy and financier Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company to clarify who has executed the transfer by selecting “Death TO (transfer of ownership) in Citizen Portal”. Even under this category, after online application, the RTA officials are required to verify the documents and then approve the transfer of ownership.