In an advisory to states issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the government has extended the validity of vehicle documents till June 2021, in the wake of the pandemic. The validity extends to documents eligible under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. These include the fitness, permit, driving licence, registration and other documents, whose validity could not be renewed due to the lockdown and have expired since February 1, 2020, or would expire by March 31, 2021.
“The transport ministry advised that the validity of the documents that have expired since February 1, the same may be treated to be valid till June 30, 2021. Enforcement authorities are advised to treat such documents as valid till June 30, 2021. This will help out citizens in availing transport-related services,” the ministry said in its advisory.
The government had earlier extended the validity of these documents till March 30, 2020, in the wake of the nationwide lockdown to provide relief to vehicle owners and reduce footfall at the transport authority offices. However, the government again announced similar extensions till June 9, 2020; August 9, 2020, and then till December 27, 2020. The extension period was later revised till February 1, 2021, and was currently valid till March 31.
“Taking into consideration the grim situation still continuing due to conditions for prevention of COVID-19 across the country, it is advised that validity of all the vehicle documents whose extension of validity could not be, or was not likely to be granted due to lockdown and/or COVID-19 and which had expired since 1st of Feb, 2020 or would expire by 30th June 2021, the same may be treated valid till 30th June 2021”, the ministry said in the statement.
Moreover, the ministry said that the extension of these documents will allow motorists to pass without any harassment. So from now, the police will not ask for physical inspections for the forms like a Driving License or insurance of the vehicle.
