Bizarre records: Vehicles weighing under 3 kg, cars with capacity of 50 registered with Rajasthan's transport dept

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found some bizzare errors while examining records of vehicles with Rajasthan’s transport department. Some of these are: a four-wheeler weighing less than 3 kg, vehicles recorded as registered before the purchase date, cars with a seating capacity of 50. 

The Vahan and Sarathi applications of Rajasthan’s transport department has displayed 15,570 vehicles weighing 0-3 kg, according to the CAG report, which was recently tabled in the Rajasthan Assembly, PTI reported. 

The CAG found that 119 vehicles were recorded to have been registered before their purchase dates and 14 vehicles were documented to weigh more than 1 lakh kg in the Vahan application. 

It also found that the transport department registered 712 vehicles with duplicate chassis or engine numbers. 

In the Sarathi app, 166 learner’s licences were issued to persons under 18 years of age, which is against the rules, CAG found. The CAG has audited 10.14 lakh cases of Vahan and Sarathi usage from April 2016 to March 2021 in Rajasthan, covering all vehicles except two- and three-wheelers.   

“Ensuring the reliability of the data within Vahan, it is crucial to rectify the cases identified by the audit and address any other similar irregularities. This will help maintain the integrity and accuracy of the data,” the CAG audit said. 

The audit found errors in the recorded seating capacity of 1,219 vehicles. Among these, 120 goods vehicles were recorded to have a seating capacity ranging from 10-100 passengers. Seven cars were shown with a seating capacity of 10-50 passengers. 

As many as 1,018 passenger vehicles, such as buses designed to carry more than 10 passengers, were incorrectly shown to have a seating capacity of only one to three passengers. 

“The government replied in December 2023 that instructions have been issued to correct the errors. To assess the action taken by the department, the audit test-checked these cases and found that these irregularities were yet to be rectified (January 2024),” the CAG report mentioned. 

The CAG recommended that the department needs to take appropriate actions to rectify the situation, including identifying and fixing any systemic weaknesses. 

The CAG said that the Vahan and Sarathi applications were designed to implement the requirements of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and Motor Vehicle Rules. However, a review of the state revealed multiple instances where the rules were not correctly applied. 

“Incorrect mapping of rules resulted in a shortfall in collection of registration and hypothecation fees, resulting in a loss of revenue for the state,” the CAG said. 

The Transport Mission Mode Project, through its flagship applications Vahan (for vehicle registration) and Sarathi (for driving license) are for automation of Regional Transport Offices across the country. Almost 18 crore vehicle records and eight crore license records are available in its repository.