Selling a vehicle registered under India's BH series, short for Bharat Series, is set to get a lot easier in Chhattisgarh. The state government is preparing changes to the rules governing this number plate category so that ordinary buyers, who currently cannot qualify for a BH registration themselves, will be able to purchase used BH series vehicles.
Why owners struggled to sell
A BH series number is not issued to everyone. It is reserved for people employed with organisations that have offices in at least four states or union territories. The trouble begins when the owner of such a vehicle wants to sell it, because most buyers do not meet that eligibility bar and therefore cannot take over the registration. As a result, many of these vehicles never get formally transferred on paper, and owners end up passing them on only through informal mutual agreements, without any actual change of ownership in official records.
What the new rule will allow
After a string of complaints from vehicle owners across Chhattisgarh, the state government has decided to relax the framework. Once the new rule takes effect, ordinary customers will be able to buy a used BH series vehicle. There is a catch though, the buyer will have to clear any pending tax dues on the vehicle out of their own pocket. In addition, such buyers will not retain the BH number, they will instead be issued a CG series, or Chhattisgarh series, registration number. A formal notification spelling out these changes is expected to be issued soon.
Vehicles stuck for years in several districts
In a number of districts across the state, ownership of BH series vehicles has not changed hands for years simply because the transfer could never go through. Buyers and sellers have been relying purely on private agreements to complete resales. Transport department records show that not a single application for transferring a BH series vehicle has been filed from the Surguja and Bastar divisions in the past 2 years, a figure that underlines just how badly the existing rule was choking the resale market.
The Form-60 requirement for private employees
Employees of private companies who want a BH series number have to submit a certificate from their employer, known as Form-60, to prove eligibility. Because this requirement is tied to a specific kind of job profile, ordinary buyers without that certificate have been shut out of the BH series altogether, even when they wanted to buy a vehicle that already carried the number.
Why the BH series is still attractive
Despite the resale trouble, the BH series comes with genuine advantages for those who qualify. Road tax does not have to be paid in one lump sum, it can be deposited in instalments spread over 2 years at a time. If the vehicle owner is transferred to another state for work, there is no need to register the vehicle all over again. It also cuts down significantly on the hassle of obtaining a No Objection Certificate, or NOC, separately in different states.
