Maharashtra is checking out-of-state cars from 5 to 17 October
By Nikhil Yelligetti · Saturday, 3 October 2026 at 5:00 pm · 4 min read · 0 views
RTOs will look for private vehicles registered outside Maharashtra but used here for more than a year. The drive runs 5–17 October 2026. Keep the RC, insurance, PUC and tax papers in the car.
The Maharashtra transport department is running a special check from 5 to 17 October 2026. The target is a private vehicle registered in another state and used in Maharashtra for more than a year. Transport Commissioner Rajesh Narwekar has asked RTOs and deputy RTOs to verify documents, how the vehicle is used, and whether tax has been paid.
Mahindra XUV700 in Jamshedpur. Photo: Ank Kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The RTO drive below is in Maharashtra and covers private cars kept in the state, not this photograph's city.
If the car has stayed past the permitted period without the formalities, the department can detain it, ask for re-registration and recover motor-vehicle tax. The same period is also being used to look at 5,664 high-value vehicles, reported at more than ₹50 lakh each, that Maharashtra dealers sold in 2025–26 and that were then registered outside the state.
What do you need if the car now lives in Mumbai, Thane or Pune?
Once a vehicle has been in Maharashtra for 12 months and the owner means to keep it here, the usual path is an NOC from the original RTO, a Maharashtra inspection, Forms 20 and 27, the original RC, insurance, PUC, local address proof, and pro-rata road tax. After the new registration, unused lifetime tax in the old state can be claimed back under that state's rules.
Carry the papers even if you believe the car is still a visitor. The drive details are in the Free Press Journal report of the commissioner's order. Other notes from this week are on Automobile News.