Bombay High Court okays state government's plan to issue paper books for vehicle registration

The Bombay High Court on Thursday, while refusing to grant interim relief to two companies providing smart cards for vehicle registration, allowed the government's decision to issue paper certificates.

A division bench of justices VM Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai, while adjourning the hearing to December 22, said as there was no contract existing between the companies and the state transport department, there was no urgency.

The state transport department had on Wednesday opposed the petition filed by Rosmerta Technologies Ltd and Shonkh Technologies International Ltd seeking directions to the department to allow it to provide smart cards as vehicle registration certificates.

The state had argued that the company charges Rs394 per card in Maharashtra, while in Karnataka, it provides it for Rs63, thus causing a loss of Rs7.99 crore to the public exchequer.

The company represented by advocate Iqbal Chagla had argued that "going back on providing registration certificates through paper books is contrary to the government's own notification, which allows use of smart cards".

"In this age and time, instead of moving ahead, we are going back to dark ages," Chagla had said.

The government discontinued the service of the companies issuing smart cards from November 30. A fresh tender has been floated to appoint a private vendor for the job. On an average, around 475 vehicles are registered daily, or close to 14,000 cars every month, in Mumbai alone.