In Pune city, top officials from the Maharashtra transport department disclosed that the permanent registration of a luxury Porsche, which was implicated in an accident resulting in the tragic deaths of two IT professionals, had been pending since March. The delay, they stated, was attributed to the owner's failure to remit the necessary Rs 1,758 fees.
In the early hours of Sunday, in the Kalyani Nagar area, an electric luxury sports sedan, identified as the Porsche Taycan, was reportedly being driven by the 17-year-old son of a prominent builder. According to police assertions, the driver was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar told PTI that the Porsche car was imported in March by a dealer in Bengaluru and from there it was sent to Maharashtra on a temporary registration. "When it was produced at the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO), it was found that a certain registration fee was not paid and the owner was asked to pay the amount for completion of the procedure. However, the vehicle was not brought to the RTO for the completion of the registration process after that," he said.
Officials have clarified that road tax is waived for electric vehicles registered in Maharashtra. Consequently, for the registration of the Porsche Taycan model in question, only a nominal fee of Rs 1,758 was applicable. This comprised Rs 1,500 for hypothecation fees, Rs 200 for smart card RC fees, and Rs 58 for postal charges. Interestingly, according to information available on Porsche India's website, the ex-showroom price range for various cars manufactured by the company starts at Rs 96 lakh and extends to over Rs 1.86 crore.
Although the price of the Porsche Taycan model isn't specified on the website, sources from the transport department suggested that it could be priced in crores. These officials further revealed that, according to their records, the vehicle possessed a valid temporary registration certificate issued by Karnataka, valid for six months from March to September 2024.
They said that the Porsche dealer in Bengaluru was not at fault as he had handed over the car after doing the temporary registration. Hence, it was the responsibility of the owner to get it registered at the RTO before plying it on the roads. During the temporary registration period, the vehicles can only be used to drive to and from the RTO.