54-year-old vintage car gets new registration number in Odisha

Puri: A woman has registered a new number plate for a 54-year-old car in memory of her grandfather in Puri district of Odisha. This is the first vintage car of the state to be registered under the new amended Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) Rules by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The car is owned by a Bhubaneswar-based resident named Padmalaya Praharaj got this car from her father Nabin Kumar Padhi.

Nabin received this car from his father Durgacharan Padhi, who bought this premium fiat car in 1968.

After the new CMV rules, Nabin approached the Puri regional transport office (RTO) to get the car registered under the new policy.

The vintage car, which was earlier registered as ORP-2456 at Puri RTO on November 18, 1968, has been received a new vintage series number, ODVAAA0001.

According to sources, Padhi has transferred the ownership of the car to one Padmalaya Praharaj.
The interesting thing is the car was registered at Rs 20,000, which is nearly the same amount at which it was purchased in 1968.

Padmalaya said that they faced many difficulties in collecting the parts of the vehicle as the car is very old. They had to order the parts for this vintage car from Kerala, Madras and other states.

After collecting the car parts, they repaired the car at a repair shop in Bhubaneswar. They had to spend lakhs of money in order to repair it.

The car can’t run on roads, but it can be used for marriage processions only, said an official at Puri regional transport office.

In July 2021, the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) formalised the registration process of vintage two-wheelers and four-wheelers, mostly which are 50 years old and above, in India in order to preserve and promote the heritage of vintage vehicles. Odisha is the first state in the country to implement the policy.

Last month, the state transport department appealed to the owners of vintage vehicles to get their cars/two-wheelers registered under the amended policy. There are around 4,500 vintage vehicles in Odisha and most of them are defunct, as per the state transport department’s database.

MoRTH has introduced a scrapping policy to discourage the use of vehicles which are more than 15 years old. As per MoRTH’s norms, vintage motor vehicles cannot ply on roads for private or commercial purposes. A vintage vehicle can only be taken out for display, for taking part in vintage car rallies, for refuelling, maintenance and for exhibitions.