The week before, the challan became a lock on the paperwork. The week of 26 October showed who tries to get round the lock: thieves who change the plate, sellers accused of printing the bank's letter, and cabs that never told the RTO they were cabs. At the same time, more of a vehicle's services now depend on its record being clean, and two-wheeler demand is up this festive season just as two-wheeler theft cases fill the news.
Stolen, Re-Plated and Forged: The Week's Fraud Map
In a 72-hour drive that ended on Tuesday, 27 October, Delhi Police's West District recovered 185 stolen vehicles and arrested 44 people. 182 of the vehicles were two-wheelers: 117 scooters and 65 motorcycles. On 28 October, Hyderabad's Chandanagar police arrested five men accused of stealing bikes, fitting fake plates and moving them to Rajahmundry, as reported, and recovered bikes worth about Rs. 12 Lakh and 11 fake plates. In Gurugram, a bike stopped at Pasco Red Light on 9 October had a tampered plate, and the record behind it showed 53 pending challans worth Rs. 3.31 Lakh. A challan check on the number painted on the plate would have shown another vehicle's record.
Paper is forged too. Bengaluru's Wilson Garden police arrested three men in September over fake RCs and forged bank NOCs as reported, with vehicles worth about Rs. 2 Crore seized. A printed NOC can say the loan is closed; the lender entry on the record says whether it is. Ahmedabad RTO seized 22 app car taxis and 10 bike taxis, and 21 of the 22 cars were registered outside Gujarat. Complaints also pointed at cars running for hire on private plates, and cars like these can turn up later on used listings as private cars. And on 16 September the Supreme Court awarded Rs. 10 Lakh to a truck owner whose financier seized his truck at about 1 am and sold it without notice, as reported. A repossessed truck needs its paper trail checked as closely as its engine.
| Where | What happened | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi (West) | 182 stolen two-wheelers recovered in 72 hours | Chassis digits on the frame against the record |
| Hyderabad | Stolen bikes moved to Andhra Pradesh on fake plates | Make, colour and RTO on the record against the bike |
| Gurugram | Rs. 3.31 Lakh of challans behind a tampered plate | Challans on the RC's number, not the plate's |
| Bengaluru | Forged bank NOCs and fake RCs | Lender entry on the record |
| Ahmedabad | App taxis seized; complaints cite private-plate cabs | Vehicle class on the record, plus signs of hire use such as very high kilometres |
Match the Record to the Vehicle
The RC check shows the make, colour, RTO, owner count and any lender on the record, plus the chassis digits to match against the frame. Rs. 99, or Rs. 149 with the challan record.
Paperwork: More Services Now Wait on a Clean Record
Bihar's Transport Commissioner has told RTOs to restrict ownership transfer, RC renewal, duplicate RCs, address changes and fitness for vehicles with unpaid e-challans, and to blacklist them on the transport portal, as reported on 28 October. For trucks, the 2026 central rules already stop a transfer NOC, fitness certificate or national permit while highway toll dues are unpaid, and those dues stay with the vehicle when it is sold.
From 1 November, a resident within 20 km of a National Highway plaza can buy an annual local pass for Rs. 1,500, or Rs. 3,000 where the plaza is inside town limits. It works at one plaza, needs the car's FASTag, and does not pass to the next owner. Delhi's winter entry bar on petrol and diesel vehicles below BS-VI registered outside the city was announced to run from 1 November to 31 January, with CNG and electric vehicles exempt; our explainer separates it from the year-round truck rule, and as announced, it appears to cover private cars too. We could not locate the formal notice when we wrote it, so check with the Delhi Transport Department and Delhi Traffic Police for the final terms.
Three proposals are still drafts. MoRTH's Forms 37A and 37B would let owners close the registration of a destroyed or exported vehicle online. A separate draft would drop the 60 kg cap on registration-free e-scooters and keep the 25 km/h limit. And IRDAI's consultation paper proposes that a dealer should not refuse cashless repair because you insured elsewhere; comments closed on 25 October. For a used buyer, the bigger insurance risk is still the 14-day window to move the policy into your name.
Market: Record Quarters, and Bikes Ahead of Cars
Maruti Suzuki sold 6,96,654 vehicles in July to September, a record quarter, with about 2 Lakh bookings still pending at the end of it, as reported. Its profit fell. Tata Motors sold a record 2,01,723 passenger vehicles, and electric and CNG models together made up 51% of them. Brokerage data reported on 26 October for the first 14 days of the festive season put two-wheeler registrations up 16% and cars down 6%, although FADA's Navratri count of 8,34,075 two-wheelers retailed was down 2.79% on last year. Tractor retail over Navratri was 22,690, up 0.89%, with the rabi season about to start.
October's premium launches are likely to bring more older bikes onto the used market. The X-47 Venom at an introductory Rs. 2.65 Lakh and the Benelli TRK 552 at Rs. 7.22 Lakh, both launched on 22 October, follow Triumph's Bonneville T4 and T40 from 6 October. With industry data showing 80 to 82% of used-car buyers are first-time owners, and financing used in about a third of deals, a deal with two loans in it is common, and the seller's old loan and the buyer's new one have to be handled in the right order.
Dates Sellers Should Work Back From
| Date | What | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 6 Nov | Dhanteras; Diwali on Sunday, 8 November | Every used buyer and seller |
| Sat 21 Nov | First wedding muhurat of the season in most lists | Sellers of 7-seat SUVs and MPVs |
| 21 Nov | Uttarakhand's deferral of the higher fitness fee ends, as reported | Owners of 15-year-plus trucks and buses |
| Thu 31 Dec | Telangana's 100% EV road tax waiver ends, unless extended | Hyderabad EV owners |
Two guides cover the festive deal itself: an eight-day closing plan for car sellers and a ten-day checklist for bike buyers. Before any money moves, read when to pay a token. Families buying for a wedding will want their 7-seater well before 21 November. Owners of old commercial vehicles in Uttarakhand can renew fitness at the old fee before 21 November, and a fresh fitness certificate makes the vehicle easier to sell. The Telangana waiver ending on 31 December is why we suggest Hyderabad EV owners list in November.
Tamil Nadu has replaced its 2013 auto tariff, raising fares to Rs. 50 for the first 1.8 km and Rs. 25 a km after that, which changes the sums on a used auto. For e-rickshaws and e-autos, our buyer checklist puts the record before the battery. In Madhya Pradesh, used-vehicle transfers moved to online auto-approval from 7 September, as reported, so the record now matters more than the counter. And the Supreme Court's 16 October hearing on the accident interim relief scheme is a reminder that a sold vehicle still in your name on the record is still yours in law.
What This Means for Used Vehicle Buyers and Sellers
For buyers, run the check on the number printed on the RC, not the plate. Match the chassis digits on the frame to the record, read the lender entry rather than the bank letter, and check the vehicle class, which shows whether it is registered as a transport vehicle. Pay the token after the record is clean, not before.
For sellers, clear challans and close any loan before Dhanteras, because in Bihar a pending fine can now stop the transfer, and other states may follow the Supreme Court's directions. File the transfer forms on the day of sale and check the record until it shows the buyer's name.
Read the Record Before the Festive Token
Vahan Verify pulls the RC record for Rs. 99, the challan record for Rs. 99, or both for Rs. 149, from the registration number alone. Selling before Dhanteras? A Rs. 99 verified listing puts a checked record in front of buyers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fraud and paperwork led the week. Delhi Police's West District recovered 185 stolen vehicles in a 72-hour drive that ended on 27 October, 182 of them scooters and motorcycles, and Hyderabad police arrested five men accused of moving stolen bikes on fake plates, as reported. Our reports that week also covered a tampered-plate case in Gurugram and forged bank NOCs in Bengaluru. Bihar's Transport Department told its offices to restrict ownership transfer, fitness and other services for vehicles with unpaid e-challans, as reported on 28 October, and a Rs. 1,500 local toll pass started on 1 November. In the market, Maruti Suzuki reported a record 6,96,654 vehicles for July to September on 27 October, following Tata Motors' record 2,01,723 for the same quarter, and brokerage data reported two-wheeler registrations up 16 percent and cars down 6 percent in the first 14 festive days.
Do not trust the plate. Ask for the RC, read the registration number from it, and run that number against the VAHAN record. Then match the make, model and colour on the record with the bike, and the visible digits of the partially masked chassis number with the number stamped on its frame. A stolen bike usually carries a fake plate whose record belongs to a different vehicle, so a mismatch on any of those fields is your signal to stop. Pay the token only after the record and the metal agree, and never to a seller who will not show the original RC. A match is not proof on its own, so also see the seller's ID and, where possible, the purchase invoice.
No. Under the rules that took effect on 1 November 2026, the annual pass costs Rs. 1,500 at a plaza outside municipal limits and Rs. 3,000 at one inside them, and it is issued to a private-vehicle owner who lives within 20 km of a particular National Highway fee plaza. It needs a working FASTag on the vehicle, works only at that one plaza, and is not transferable. If you buy a used car near a plaza, plan to apply for your own pass once the RC is in your name.
Yes. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, the owner is the person the registration record names, so until the transfer is recorded an accident claim or a challan can still lead back to you. On 16 October 2026 the Supreme Court told the Centre to publish and publicise the Compensation to Victims (Interim Relief) Scheme, 2026, as reported, and the law it rests on lets the government recover payouts from the owner. The scheme creates no new duty for sellers, but the old one stands: report the sale within 14 days when the vehicle stays in the same state, keep a copy of the signed forms, and check the record until it shows the buyer's name.