Bhubaneswar, March 1: The Odisha State Transport Authority will introduce the system of online submission of applications for registration of vehicles from April 1.

The online system, which aims at streamlining the process of obtaining vehicle registrations, will begin on a pilot basis in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack Regional Transport Offices (RTO).

Various dealer points under these two RTOs will be given a login id and password. The dealers would be required to fill up all the information at the time of sale of the vehicles through the online system. Once the information is filled up, the dealers would need to deposit tax and required documents at the RTO within 48 hours.

The RTO will cross check the data provided in online submissions and hard copies and any mismatch would lead to cancellation of the application for registration.

State transport commissioner Surendra Kumar said the new system would help expedite the process of obtaining vehicle registration numbers.

“We have already procured the software needed for this system,” said Kumar.

In the first phase, one-time tax-paying vehicles such as two-wheelers, private vehicles such as autorickshaws, personal cars and motor cabs, will be included under the online system of application for registration of vehicles.

Regional transport officer, Bhubaneswar, Lal Mohan Sethy said the new system would be helpful as vehicle owners can get the registration numbers within three to four days. “When their vehicle meets with an accident before registration, owners are unable to claim insurance. With the new system, vehicle owners can get registration numbers within three to four days of buying the vehicle,” said Sethy.

Earlier, someone who wanted to buy a new vehicle was required to provide required documents at the dealer point and after that the data would go to the RTO office.

Sometimes, the smaller dealers would wait for a long time to submit applications in bulk, which resulted in delay in getting registration numbers.

“We have to wait for more than one month to obtain the registration number. We are also forced to visit the dealer more than once to ask for the registration number. But with the new system we no longer have to ask the dealers for registration number,” said Devi Prasad Das, a student.

There are more than 60 vehicle dealers operating in Bhubaneswar and more than 8,000 vehicles are sold in one month.