'As a Senior Citizen, Allow us an Extension to Keep Vehicles Beyond 15 Years'

"As a senior citizen it is not possible to buy a new car once my old one expires."

Owners of cars that are more than 15 years old will have to shell out eight times more money to renew their registration.

(Image altered by The Quint/Deeksha Malhotra)

According to a latest revisions affected in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules of 2021 vide 23rd amendment the changes notified are to come into force with effect from April 1, 2022.

As per provisions of these amendments, hereafter registration renewal of a 15 year old car will now cost Rs 5,000, compared to the existing fee of Rs 600 almost nine times the cost for a new registration. For motorbikes that are more than 15 years old, the renewal charge is fixed at Rs 1,000, compared to the existing Rs 300, more than 3 times.

Additionally, the fitness renewal certificate for a light motor vehicle will be Rs 7,500 and for old medium goods or passenger motor vehicles Rs 10,000. The notification further says an additional fee of Rs 50 for each day of delay after the expiry of certificate of fitness shall also be levied.

As per the notification, in case of delay in applying for renewal of certificate of registration, an additional fee of Rs 300 for delay of every month in case of private vehicles.

Is This Fair For Senior Citizens?

I am a 69-year-old and my petrol engine car, Maruti Suzuki SX4, will complete its 15 years in May 2023.

Majority of senior citizens, like me, are not entitled to any government pensions and there isn't a great source of income for us. We heavily rely on our savings. The interest income on their preferred mode of savings as fixed deposits has also been consistently declining.

Most of us get dependent on our children and what about those of us who do not have any child?

Tejinder Singh Bedi's Maruti Suzuki SX4, petrol version, will complete its 15 years in May 2023.

Photo Credit: Tejinder Singh Bedi

If their old vehicles are also scrapped, while on one hand, they will not be able to afford new vehicles, on the other hand, they may also find public transport services like hired taxis unaffordable due to the ever increasing costs of rentals and fuel being experienced regularly.

It is an established fact that people older than 60 or so, are normally not offered any gainful employment and as such their commutation for employment related work gets almost eliminated.

Even in business or other activities the usage of their vehicles reduces considerably after this threshold with maximum frequent drives restrained to visit hospitals or nearby places for routine shopping or to some places of worship.

As such the average running of their vehicles gets reduced to almost a negligible level actually adding to the life cycle of their vehicles; if not their own life cycles!

Expectation From The Government

Considering the above backdrop on a holistic rationale, I feel, there is a strong case for extending the life span of old vehicles owned by senior citizens in their names as until March 31, 2022 by another five years thereby meaning 20 years run for vehicles owned by them instead of 15 proposed for all before scrapping the same.

Another possible way of curbing longer usage of their old vehicles can be to restrict their movements within the state boundaries of their place of existing residence as recorded in their Aadhaar cards.

If there may be any apprehension of misuse of this facility by the younger population in their families, the data for ownership as a senior citizen as on March 31, 2022 can be taken as a cut off for these exemptions.

In times of sharp increase in expenses incurred on healthcare in age groups of 65 to 100, it would be very harsh to expect such citizens spend a minimum of 10 lakh on a medium sized new vehicle out of their lifelong savings and for those above eighty to bear additional expense of up to Rs 15,000 per month for a driver as after 70, they are not eligible to get their driving licence too renewed for self driven options...

(Tejinder Singh Bedi is a retired technocrat, HR & CSR professional, a former dean/professor of management, a passionate writer & a singer.

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