Vehicle RC transfer — Form 29/30 and the RTI fix

An untransferred RC is not paperwork debt — it is liability that keeps compounding in the seller's name: challans from the new owner's driving, the accident claim that names the registered owner, the tax demand. The buyer's exposure is the mirror image: no ownership in the register means no claim and no resale. Both sides want the same thing — the register entry — and the register is a public record with a file behind it.

1. **Sale and documents** — the sale certificate, the RC, insurance, PAN, and the forms: **Form 29** (notice of transfer, signed by the seller) and **Form 30** (report of transfer)
2. **File at the RTO** where the vehicle is registered — within **30 days** of the sale; where the buyer resides in a different state, the outer limit is **45 days**
3. **Fees and tax** — the transfer fee and any tax differences the state's motor-vehicles department levies, paid with the application
4. **Track on Vahan** — the national register at [[https://vahan.parivahan.gov.in|vahan.parivahan.gov.in]] shows the RC's current owner status; "Know Your RC Status" answers whether the transfer has actually landed in the register
5. **The new RC** issues in the buyer's name once the file completes — until then, the seller remains the registered owner in law

Hypothecated vehicles add the financier's NOC; commercial vehicles add the permit and fitness files. Every addition is another register entry — another thing that can sit pending.

1. Status of the ownership-transfer application for vehicle ____ (regn. no.), submitted on ____ — present stage and the officer holding the file.
2. Copy of the noting on the application to date.
3. The number of ownership-transfer applications pending beyond 30 days at RTO ____, as on date.
4. The date my Form 29/30 for vehicle ____ were received, and the acknowledgement issued.
5. The average disposal time of transfer applications at RTO ____ in the last quarter.

The application goes to the CPIO of the State Transport Department / RTO — ₹10, 30 days, first appeal to the department's FAA, second to the State Information Commission. Points 3 and 5 are the movers: RTOs answer transfer files quickly when their own pending counts are in play.

1. Sign Form 29 and keep a copy — the consent that starts the clock
2. Deliver the documents the RTO needs and keep the delivery note
3. Verify on Vahan after 30 days — if the register still shows you, write to the RTO with your Form 29 copy: the law lets you approach the registering authority about the non-transfer
4. Insurance transfer or a new policy by the buyer — claims follow the policy, not intentions
5. RTI the transfer file if the register does not move — as the seller, your exposure continues until it does

Real example. Kashvi Pathak sold her scooter and, ten months later, received a challan from a city she had never visited. Vahan still showed her as owner. Form 29 copy in hand, the RTI for the transfer application's status — and the RTO's pending-transfer count — returned in 22 days: no application had ever been filed. The reply, filed with the RTO's non-transfer note, moved the register to the buyer's name and closed her challan representation with it.

The application is due within 30 days of sale; disposal time varies by RTO — track the register on Vahan, and RTI the pending file when the register does not move.

Yes — vahan.parivahan.gov.in's “Know Your RC Status” shows the current registered owner.

File your Form 29 copy with the RTO against the non-transfer; the record protects you from the continuing liabilities in your name — see the records-not-answers drafting guide for the framing.

Yes — Form 29 carries the seller's consent and signature; the file cannot run without it.

• File RTI online — the 12-step guide
• Why RTIs get rejected — and the fixes
• RTI forms + downloads
• The RTI Playbook

• vahan.parivahan.gov.in — the national vehicle register and RC status services (verified live on this run)
• Motor Vehicles Act and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules — Forms 29 and 30 and the 30/45-day transfer timelines
• RTI Act 2005, §§5, 6, 19

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Vahan services verified live; form numbers and timelines as prescribed under the motor-vehicles rules.