BH Series Registration

BH Series Registration

Why in news?

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified Bharat “BH” series of registration to free vehicle owners from the hassle of relocating a vehicle.

What was the earlier process of relocating a vehicle from one state to the other?

Under Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for 12 months in any state outside the registered state. New registration has to be made within 12 months

• A No Objection Certificate (NOC) has to be acquired from the state where the vehicle is registered i.e. “parent state”.
• The vehicle must be re-registered in the state where it is relocated
• There is also issue of paying road tax to the new state.
• This charge is collected for 15 years upfront by the parent state and it has to refund the remaining 10 years’ road tax.

What is the new BH series all about?

• It is a new system of registration of vehicles designed to reduce the red-tape.
• Vehicles bearing the BH registration mark will not require to be re-registered in a new state once it relocates
• It will be completely online and will come into force from September 15 this year

• Eligibity

1. Anyone who is a government/PSU employee, state or Centre
2. In private sector, an employee of a company that has offices in at least four states/UTs is eligible on voluntary basis

• System of tax payment

1. The motor vehicle tax will be levied for 2 years or in multiple of 2 instead of paying the 15 years’ tax upfront
2. After the completion of 14^th year, the tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier

• Road tax

1. Road tax will be charged at 8% if the cost of the vehicle is below Rs 10 lakh
2. It is 10% for those costing between Rs 10-20 lakh.
3. And for vehicles costing more than Rs 20 lakh, the tax is 12 per cent
4. Diesel vehicles will be charged 2% extra
5. Electric vehicles shall be charged 2 per cent less tax

What are the benefits of BH Series?

• Facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across any state in India
• Ease the ownership transfer of used vehicles
• Reduces the tax burden association with relocation
• Hassle free online system promotes transparency in the procedure
• Incentives to electric vehicles paves way towards sustainable India

Source: The Indian Express, Livemint