Lockdown 4.0 pushes back validity of vehicle documents till July 31

There is some relief for vehicle owners whose documents are due for renewal since February 1. The government has decided to extend the validity of motor vehicles related documents due to the ongoing lockdown across the country. Now you can do this after July 31 without having to bother about paying a fine or late charge.

On Sunday, the government issued a statement saying, "In order to facilitate citizens during Covid–19, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has issued a statutory order prescribing that the fees paid on or after February 1, 2020 for the activity(s) including renewal (of documents) and in case such activity(s) is not completed due to conditions for prevention of Covid-19 pandemic, the fees paid shall continue to remain valid."

The statement also said, "If there is delay in paying the fees from 1st of Feb, 2020 till the period of lockdown there would not be any additional or late fee to be charged for such delays till 31st July 2020."

Earlier in March, when the first phase of the lockdown was imposed across the country, the ministry had issued an advisory on extension of validity of the documents related to Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. The earlier deadline was supposed to end on June 30. It had said, "It was advised that documents whose extension of validity could not or not likely be granted due to lock-down and which have expired since 1st of Feb, 2020 or would expire till 30th June 2020, Enforcement authorities were advised to treat such documents valid till 30th of June, 2020," an official statement had earlier said.

Due to ongoing lockdown most of the transport offices have remained shut for months now, making it difficult for people to get necessary renewals done. There have been cases where the process of renewal is stuck due to the lockdown.