Hyundai Verna sedans with the same number plate BUSTED by cops, owner arrested!

The Indian automobile market is one of the biggest markets in the world. Every month, lakhs of new vehicles are registered through various RTOs in the country. All the new registration numbers are allotted after taking details like chassis number, colour, model name and more. Every new vehicle that gets a new registration number is unique. However, here is a bizarre case where two identical cars from the same area received the exact same registration numbers.

Identical Hyundai Verna sedans, identical numbers

The case is from Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir and is reported by Daily Excelsior. Two Hyundai Verna sedans in same paint scheme were operating with exactly the same registration number on the roads. In fact, both vehicles also get the same 1.6-litre diesel engine. The incident came into light when Jatindar Sharma of Lakhanpur, Kathua filed a complaint saying that there is a Hyundai Verna that looks exactly the same as his car and it bears the same registration number too. Apart from the specifications, both the cars get the JK08H0088 registration number.

On receiving the complaint, the police started investigating and found out the other Hyundai Verna with the same registration number. The car belonged to Mohd Rafiq who is also a resident of Kathua. The car belonging to Mohd Rafiq gets the original registration number as per the RTO. Police have arrested a person who sold the car to the complainant.

Also, the police have seized both the vehicles and are currently working on finding out the real agenda behind using a duplicate numberplate. It is quite possible that to save the road tax and registration amount, the person who sold the car to Jatindar Sharma did not get the car registered through RTO. Instead, he found out a similar looking car and passed on the same registration number to the new vehicle.

There have been cases of duplicate numberplates in the past too but this is the first time that two vehicles of similar make, model and colour are using the same registration plates. When a vehicle gets sold, most of the time the dealership applies for a new registration number at the local RTO. The RTO then inspects and matches all the details and issues a new number. It should be noted that recently, all the registration of new vehicles were stopped in India due to the ineffective use of the High-Security Registration Plate (HSRP) in many states. The implementation of HSRP will stop such malpractices. Since the HSRP are specially coded and can only be installed by professionals using special devices.

To avoid such incidents, one should always be extra careful when getting a new car. Documents like Registration Certificates should be matched with the car’s details like Chassis Number and VIN number. Unregistered cars cannot be insured and also using a fake registration number in India is illegal. This is why one should not put blind faith on the dealerships and check such details when buying a new car.