How to Get Any Indian Vehicle's Registration Details Instantly – For Free! Save this useful tip in your phone book RIGHT NOW - it may help you in case of an accident or verifying a possible theft
By Rustam Singh •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Introduced last year but not adequately promoted for its efficiency, the road transport ministry of India has officially released a way to get details of virtually any and every vehicle registered in India – instantly. The method is seamlessly simple, instant and is free (if you have an SMS enabled, that is, otherwise it will cost the cost of a national SMS, which is usually Rs.1.5 on almost all telecom providers). The best part is you don't need a Smartphone or technical skills to find out. There's no need to browse anciently designed glitch government websites for the information either.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) developed this SMS service. Details revealed are carefully ensured to be as correct as possible and still maintain privacy, since vehicle registrations officially carry a bit of one's personal information as well.
The details include:
- The RTO from where the vehicle is registered.
- Owner's Name
- The vehicle in question (Make and model)
- The class of the vehicle.
- The expiry date of registration.
Although officially this service is provided for buyers of second vehicles to check the registration of vehicles, it is also useful for a variety of other reasons. If you suspect someone of breaking the law in their vehicle, this information can come in handy. It's also a good idea to save this number in your phone book for instant access in case of hit-and-run cases to which you may be a victim or a witness to, or to know more about an illegally parked car and its owner. The only problem is the service only works for relatively newer vehicles, most likely registered post 2006.
To utilize the service, simply follow the steps given below:
SMS 'VAHAN to 7738299899
For example, if you want to know the registration details of a car numbered DL4 DAB 4200, then type the word "VAHAN" in all capitals followed by a space and the entire vehicle number details, again without space and in capitals and send it to 7738299899.
You will get a reply giving all the details almost instantly.
Did you know of this service? Does it work for your vehicle or your friends? Do let us know in the comments on our official Facebook page Entrepreneur India
