Validity of Driving License, RC & other documents extended till March 2021

The ministry of road transport and highways also known as MoRTH has extended the validity of all expiring motoring documents till March 2021. This would be applicable for vehicle-related documents that have expired since February 2020 or would expire by March 31st 2021. The ministry has said that such “documents may be treated to be valid till 31st March 2021”. This is being done so that the citizens can continue to use transport-related services while practising social distancing.

These measures are being taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus. While the lockdown was eased, the cases from COVID-19 were still increasing. The automobile sector of our country is one of the sectors that had a worse effect. The situations were so bad that in April 2020 the sales of the automobile sector hit zero. However, nothing lasts forever. When the lockdown eased and the country started running again, the sales of automobile sector started increasing gradually once again. The sales numbers were strong for the automobile manufacturers, especially during the recent months October, November and December. One of the reasons for this was because of the pandemic, people did not use public transport and services like metro was not running. Due to this many people bought their own personal vehicle so that they can continue to travel and perform their usual chores. Then the festival season hit and every manufacturer offered heavy discounts on their vehicles. This helped in pushing sales even more. Even the pre-owned market saw an increase in sales. This was because not everyone could afford a new vehicle and dealers like Maruti Suzuki True Value and Mahindra First Choice even offered warranty period. Also, BS6 transition period left many vehicles in dealerships that were not sold timely before the BS6 deadline hit. For instance, KTM launched Duke 790 in September 2019 for Rs. 8.64 lakh ex-showroom. It was a CKD unit that came with a very low level of localisation. As it was an expensive product, not all 100 units were sold and BS6 timeline was near. So, the last few units of the BS4 KTM Duke 790 were sold for as low as Rs. 5.99 lakhs ex-showroom.

“The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has extended the validity of vehicular documents like DLs, RCs, permits etc till March 31, 2021, in the light of the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Ministry has today issued a directory to the states and Union Territory administrations in the regard,” Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, The Government of India said in a statement.

Also read: BS6 KTM Duke 125 facelift launched in India

This is not the first time that the government has extended the deadline for the documents. This is the fourth time that ministry of road transport and highways has extended the deadline. The deadline was first extended till June 9th 2020 from March 30th 2020, the second time the date was extended till September 30th from June 9th. The third time the date was extended till December 31st, the new date was announced on 24th Aug. The ministry knows that not everyone would be able to go to renew their licenses and other documents. Also, because the pandemic has spread at an alarming rate, these precautions are necessary.

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