The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Thursday said it has issued a draft notification to promote ease of doing business and transparency in the sale and purchase of registered vehicles through dealers.

The growing market for pre-owned, or second-hand cars has, in recent years, received a further boost with the advent of online selling.

“These rules are expected to aid in recognising and empowering intermediaries and/or dealers of registered vehicles as well as provide adequate safeguards against fraudulent activities to the selling or purchasing of such vehicles,” according to a ministry statement.

The key provisions of the proposed rules include an authorisation certificate for dealers of registered vehicles.

The draft notification was issued on September 12, and comments as well as suggestions are invited from stakeholders within 30 days.

“In the current ecosystem, many issues are being faced, namely during transfer of vehicle to subsequent transferee, disputes in regard to third-party damage liabilities, difficulty in determination of defaulter etc,” MoRTH said.

MoRTH has proposed amendments in Chapter III of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, to build a comprehensive regulatory ecosystem for the pre-owned car market.

Draft provisions include the procedure for intimation of vehicle delivery between the registered owner and the dealer, and the powers and responsibilities of a dealer.

Dealers have been empowered to apply for renewal of registration certificate and/or renewal of fitness certificate, duplicate registration certificate, no-objection certificate, and transfer of ownership of motor vehicles in their possession, the ministry said.

“As a regulatory measure, maintenance of an electronic vehicle trip register has been mandated, which would contain details of the trip undertaken, namely trip purpose, driver, time, mileage etc,” it added.