FADA Pitches for Registration of Vehicles at Dealerships

Regional Meeting at Nagpur

Among various issues of concern to auto retail and society at large, the issues of registration of private vehicles at dealerships and introduction of periodic I&C system for all categories of vehicles are high on the agenda of FADA. This was emphasized at a regional meeting organized by FADA on 2nd November 2009 at Nagpur at which about 25-30 local dealers, media and FADA's office bearers, viz., S P Shah, President, V K Nevatia, Past President and Binod Agarwal, Past President participated.

Addressing the meeting SP Shah President of FADA said, "FADA has taken up, in right earnest, the issue of empowering automobile dealers to register new vehicles across all the States, as has been done in the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, MP and Goa. We have been pursuing the matter with the Transport Commissioner, Government of Maharashtra and hopefully, it should be implemented soon."

The Transport Commissioner had assured a team of FADA members at a meeting that he would study the model of Goa where self-registration by automobile dealers has been implemented of late, for introduction in the State of Maharashtra, Shah added.

FADA has also been emphasizing at various forums and meetings the need for introduction of periodic inspection & certification of all passenger cars on the lines of I & C System prevailing in the UK and other developed countries. In the UK, there are over 19,600 garages that are authorised by MOT to carry out inspection & certification of passenger cars.

The current provisions of Motor Vehicles Act/CMVR provide for annual testing of commercial vehicles for emission, road safety and worthiness by RTOs, "The current fitness regime administered and operated by the Government, which is largely manual and subjective, has failed to deliver the desired results for reasons known to all of us," said Shah.

Mr Shah added, "Since amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act/CMVR providing for periodic inspection & certification of private passenger cars is likely to take time, we have been having dialogue with other stakeholders for introduction of fitness regime for all categories of vehicles without waiting for the changes in law. One insurance company with which we had a dialogue has agreed to offer financial incentive in insurance premium in case of passenger cars that are certified by the automobile dealers for fitness on safety parameters. We propose to take up the matter with other insurance companies and also IRDA for fitness-linked insurance premium in the interest of clean environment and road safety. A team of FADA members also had a meeting with SIAM to discuss the ways and means of introducing fitness regime for passenger cars. It was suggested that automobile manufacturers and dealers should work together to give shape to the fitness regime, FADA intends to continue the discussion to make it a reality."

Shah asked the local dealers to give their suggestions for amendments required in Motor Vehicle Act so that suggestions received from various places could be included in a comprehensive proposal to be submitted by FADA to the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Local automobile dealers were advised to organize periodic meetings as the regular sharing of experiences and ideas benefits the automobile dealer fraternity as a whole.

FADA is also seeking introduction of Vehicle Scrappage Incentive Scheme. The Scrappage Incentive Program doling out cash incentive ranging from $2000 to $4,500, for the people trading in their old vehicles for the new ones has been a huge success and helped boost vehicle demand in US & Europe.

Vinay Nevatia, Past President, FADA present on the occasion made announcement regarding FADA's 6th biennial mega event, viz., Auto Summit 2010 scheduled for 8th & 9th January 2010 at Hotel The Lalit, New Delhi. Briefing the members, he said, "In addition to the Hon'ble Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Mr Kamal Nath, who has kindly agreed to inaugurate the Auto Summit 2010 and to deliver the inaugural address, we expect who-is-who of Indian automotive industry, renowned consultants, management gurus and top officials of the banks, finance and insurance companies to address and interact at the Summit. In addition, representatives of automobile dealers associations in the US, Russia and other countries are also expected to participate to make it a truly international event."

Touching up another important initiative of FADA, Nevatia said, "FADA has instituted a 'Dealer of the Year' Award in collaboration with 'Auto Monitor' magazine to recognize and reward those excelling in auto retail. The process has already begun with the dispatch of nomination forms. I am looking forward to an overwhelming participation of automobile dealer fraternity in this competition."