Check Vahan/Vehicle Registration Certificate/RC Status Online

Everything is going online these days, even important documents as well, the same is happening in the motor vehicle domain. If you own a vehicle, then you’re definitely familiar with the registration process of your vehicle with the RTO (Regional Transport Office). right? Well, as per the Motor Act 1988, it is mandatory to have your vehicle registered with an RTO, and if it is not, you may get fined for driving such an unregistered vehicle. 

And back in 2011, the VAHAN portal was established in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. You can consider VAHAN as a flagship e-Governance application under the National Transport Project. With this development, the government of India has made it super easy for anyone to check their RC details anywhere and anytime.

What is an RC exactly?

As you already know, RC stands for the Registration Certificate of your vehicle. Currently, there are nearly 30 crore vehicles registered in India with RTO, if yours is not one, then you must register it as soon as you can. It is one of the important documents to carry when you drive your vehicle on Indian roads, otherwise, you may get slapped with a huge fine. If you have a registered vehicle but have lost your documents, you can use government services like VAHAN to verify your ownership and registration certificate when asked by the authorities. 

How Can I Check My Vehicle’s Registration Certificate And Owner Information Online?

The government of India has made it child’s play to get your hands on the registration certificate information of your vehicle. If you ever run into a situation where you need to prove your ownership of your vehicle to authorities, then you can simply use the VAHAN portal and prove it that way. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of how you can check your vehicle’s registration certificate and ownership information online. 

  • First and foremost, go to the URL listed below and create an account. In order to register on the VAHAN portal, enter your mobile number and email address.
  • URL: https://vahan.parivahan.gov.in/nrservices/faces/user/citizen/citizenlogin.xhtml
  • Now, simply login to your account after it has been created, and then navigate to “Check RC Status” in the main menu.
  • Once you’re on the page with a box to enter your registration number or licence plate, simply enter it and click the “Get RC Status” button.
  • You can now view all of the information associated with that specific vehicle.

Third-Party RC Status Apps/Websites:

When you search for the term “Check RC Status Online,” you’ll find yourself overwhelmed by how many search results there are. And the same thing is with the Google Play store. When you search for “VAHAN app” or “Vahan Jankari”, there will be hundreds of apps. But the main question is, should you use these third-party services to check your vehicle’s RC status? 

Well, in our opinion, you don’t need any of these services. You can simply use the government portals like VAHAN. There are many websites and apps that claim that they can send you this information on your mobile number via SMS. That seems pretty convenient, and yeah, there are some genuine services out there, but not all of them are authentic. Websites like these can take your personal information such as an address, phone number, and email address and sell it to huge companies for profit. So, if you don’t want to compromise your personal information online, then you’d better avoid these third-party apps and websites for RC Status checks. 

What Type of Information Can Be Gathered By RC Check Online?

You can get your hands on the following information by running an RC check using the VAHAN portal. 

  • The vehicle registration number
  • Vehicle Owner’s Name & Address
  • Vehicle Class
  • Vehicle Production Date
  • Fuel used
  • The chassis number and the engine number (not in full)
  • type of vehicle’s body
  • Cubic capacity
  • Seating capacity
  • Wheelbase
  • The colour of the vehicle
  • Unladen weight
  • date of registration and expiry date.
  • The signature of the owner

Scenarios When You May Need a Registration Certificate And Ownership Information

There are people purchasing new and second-hand vehicles every single day, and you can see on the Vahan portal’s website that thousands of vehicles are registered every week. Here are some scenarios when you may need your or anyone else’s vehicle’s ownership and RC information. 

  • It’s no wonder if you have witnessed hit and run multiple times on Indian roads because India has the busiest roads in the world. Sometimes it happens when people just crash into another vehicle, and because of the fear of getting fined or confronted by the other vehicle’s owner, they usually flee the scene. In such a case, you can note down their vehicle’s number plate as a good citizen and report it to the authorities. Leave the rest to the police, they’ll find the person at fault and treat him/her accordingly. 
  • When going across state borders, you may run into check posts, and if you somehow lost your RC documents, then you may need to prove your ownership of the vehicle you are driving. Again, the VAHAN portal can come in quite handy in this situation as well. You can simply tell the checking officer that you have lost your document, but you can look it up online (or you can show it to them yourself) with a photo ID. And this is how you can avoid getting fined by the authorities. However, it is always convenient to carry a hard copy of your vehicle’s registration certificate, so you won’t get into any trouble while going from one place to another. 
  • As we mentioned earlier, there are vehicles sold and bought every single day. For example, if you decide to buy a second-hand vehicle for yourself, and you don’t know whether the person who’s selling it to you is the actual owner of the vehicle or not, If you’re quite unsure, then you should always check the ownership details of a second-hand vehicle on the Vahan portal before you even make the purchase. 

Alright, this is it. Now you’re a pro at checking registration certificate status online. Keep all the things in mind that we have mentioned in this article in mind and you’ll be good for the most part.