Buying from a Private Car Seller? How to get the Paperwork Right!

While the internet has made it simple to find a potential buyer for your car, the paperwork can still be a hassling process. Previously, we had written an article on the differences you would experience while buying a used car from a dealership and an individual. The major difference lies in the price. You can analyse the general market scenario and you would realise that cars sold by private owners are cheaper than those sold by dealerships. But with the cost, you save, comes a big question – ‘How to transfer car ownership?’. If you would have bought your car from the dealer, they would have done the work for you but here’s what you need to do if you buy it from a private seller!

Checkout 10 Best Second Hand Used Cars under 50k | Desperate Motoring

How to transfer car ownership?

When you buy a car from a private seller, you need to do all the documentation by yourself. Worry not, if you read this article till the end, you will know each and everything about how to transfer car ownership if you buy it from a private seller. Let’s begin!

• Procurement of a NOC
  

  

  The No Objection Certificate (NOC) is required in case the car bought by you is not registered with your local RTO. In such cases, you need to initiate the vehicle registration process for a car purchased outside your local RTO, you need to submit the Form 28 which will initiate the process of de-registering the vehicle from the RTO it was previously registered in. Suppose you are staying in Delhi and want to purchase a car registered with a separate RTO in Delhi, you need to submit the Form 29 in place of Form 28.

  Read 10 Not-To-Buy (Worst-Rated) Second-Hand Used cars in India

• Collection of Documents
  

  

  In the process of transfer of car ownership, once you have the duly signed NOC, you will need the following documents to initiate the transfer of car ownership:

  • Original RC
  • Form 28/29
  • Copy of Valid Insurance
  • Copy of address proof of buyer
  • Form 30
  • Copy of valid PUC (Pollution Under Control)
  • Copy of PAN
  • Bank NOC and Form 35 (in case the vehicle is under a loan)

• Collection of Documents (II)
  

  

  In case you are buying a vehicle that was previously registered in the name of a company and now you want to get it registered in your name as an individual, you need the following documents:

  • Original RC
  • Duly signed Form 29 (Qty-2)
  • Duly signed Form 30 (Qty-2)
  • Form 35 (Qty-2) – Duly signed
  • Financier’s declaration of full payment of dues
  • Copy of valid insurance
  • Copy of PUC
  • Address proof if the buyer
  • NOC of the company on its letterhead
  • Authorisation Letter

• Submission of Documents
  

  

  After you have collected all the above documents, it’s time for you to head to the RTO. You can find your nearest RTO by simply doing an online search. In case you have purchased the vehicle within the same state, you can head to the RTO with the above-mentioned documents, and get the process started. The transfer of car ownership takes 30 working days to be processed. Talking about the fee, it is usually Rs.300 in Delhi and can go up to Rs.2,000 depending upon your RTO.

• Vehicle re-registration after interstate transfer
  

  

  As discussed above in the case of documentation, you need to first procure the NOC and then head to your local RTO for the process of transfer of car ownership. Here are the documents that you need to take along:

  • Original NOC from the other state
  • Form 20
  • Form 27
  • NOC from previous RTO
  • Form 30
  • Attested copy of address proof
  • Attested copy of driving licence of the owner
  • PUC Certificate
  • PAN Card and/or Form 60/61
  • Bank NOC (if the vehicle is under a loan)

This was all for the documents required to get a used car re-registered in your name. In other words, you can say this was how you transfer car ownership. If you are planning to purchase a car from an individual, you will need to visit the RTO and carry out the above mentioned formalities yourself. This is where the dealership comes in. If you purchase a car from the dealership, you won’t have to worry about the ownership transfer. They will do everything for you. This is basically what they charge extra for!

Read Buying a Second Hand Used Car? | Dealership or Private Seller?

What happens if you don’t get the ownership transferred?

While the above process might look like a complex process, it is not so. You just need to collect the documents properly in the first place. Buying a car without transferring the ownership can be a trouble because the owner of the vehicle will have to face all the legalities if the vehicle is involved in any violation after the sale. The safest way out is to get an additional sale declaration signed by the owner as soon as the deal is finalised.

Additional Documents

In some states, some more documents are required to be submitted for the transfer of car ownership. These include:

1. Chassis and engine pencil paint
2. Proof of succession (in case of the transfer due to death)
3. Buyer’s undertaking (in case of a public auction)

This was all for this article. Make sure you share this article with everyone who is planning to buy a used car to make sure their paperwork is in place!