Autobayng News Team
According to Vahan database, a little over 41 crore vehicles are registered in India, but even govt entities are unsure how many of these are actually in operation.“>
Electric vehicles may have emerged as a class of vehicles in the wake of climate change concerns in the new millennium, but the Vahan registration database tells a different story — more than 1,500 EVs are recorded as manufactured and registered before 1996, long before such vehicles actually existed in India. There are also more than 70,000 vehicles with their year of registration marked as ‘1900’ and the unladen weight (load without occupant) of over eight crore vehicles is more than the laden weight (load with occupant).
These are a few among 117 anomalies that National Informatics Centre (NIC) has found in Vahan datasets, primarily due to a legacy of decades of manual data keeping by local transport offices across states before the system moved online and lack of uniform validation mechanisms. NIC, which manages the national database of Vahan, mentioned these anomalies in the bid document it has floated to select a “system integrator for implementation of data quality and data management solution”. The document said the bidder should study and identify more anomalies (if any) and provide solutions.
Sources said that there was now a huge focus on cleansing the database and streamlining it as robust and correct data on vehicles with details that include their age, make, fuel-type and category are key for planning and framing policies.
While the agency to be engaged by NIC for three years will put in place a system for a “master data repository”, which would include cleansing, standardising and doing away with duplication of the legacy Vahan database, govt is also going to undertake a massive exercise to arrive at the exact number of vehicles that are operational or ‘live’.
According to Vahan database, a little over 41 crore vehicles are registered in India, but even govt entities are unsure how many of these are actually in operation. The exercise is important amid concerns over the large number of older, fossil-fuel-powered vehicles contributing to air pollution in cities.
Officials said there was a high possibility that many older vehicles were lying as scrap in junkyards or had been scrapped informally without updates being made in the registration system. So, the actual number of ‘live’ vehicles is likely to be significantly lower than the official numbers.
TOI has learnt that the road transport ministry will soon roll out a framework to classify older vehicles under different categories. For example, non-renewal of registration for vehicles older than 15 years will see them being placed in the ‘permanent archive’ category, as they may not have been in use for years.
Owners of vehicles with valid registrations but lacking PUC and insurance will get one year to update their documents and comply with regulatory norms. If they fail to do so, such vehicles would be moved to the temporary archive category. They will have a two-year window to ensure compliance with norms. Failure to do so may result in vehicles being placed in the permanent archive category, after which they will be removed from the Vahan system.
“Most of the vehicles registered 20 or more years ago are not in operation, and these must be excluded from the database. But this should be done only after proper checks,” said transport expert Anil Chhikara.
Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals.
Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox.
All about ETAuto industry right on your smartphone!
- Download the ETAuto App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles.
