Nashik motorists are receiving genuine Ministry of Road Transport and Highways SMS alerts warning that vehicles with long-pending insurance or pollution under control (PUC) renewals have been moved to a “Permanent Archive” status, the regional transport office has confirmed.
The messages tell vehicle owners that operating a non-compliant vehicle violates the Motor Vehicles Act and direct them to approach the regional transport office for further procedures. The alerts have caused confusion among some motorists because several said they had never previously received such communication through the Vahan portal.
Senior Nashik RTO officials said the messages are being sent through the Union ministry to push owners to update mandatory vehicle documents. Deputy RTO Rajashree Gund said the alerts apply to vehicle owners whose insurance or PUC certificates were not renewed on time.
“Motorists are expected to complete these renewals on their own. If there is any discrepancy, they should visit the RTO and get the matter clarified,” Gund said.
The issue came to public attention after motorists questioned whether the messages were authentic and why they had been sent. Vivek Suryawanshi, a resident of Panchavati, said he received an alert despite owning an electric scooter. He said he believed electric vehicles did not require a PUC certificate and added that even an RTO official initially appeared uncertain about why the message had been generated.
The RTO’s clarification establishes that the alerts are part of a wider database-driven exercise rather than a reported fraud message. Officials said a large number of vehicle registrations remain dormant in the central database, with owners failing to renew documents or update the status of vehicles that are no longer in use.
Vehicle owners whose vehicles remain operational have been advised to act on the alerts and complete the pending formalities. Officials warned that long-inactive registrations could eventually face permanent deletion from the system, after which restoration may become difficult.
Owners who no longer use their vehicles have been advised to formally surrender and scrap them through the RTO instead of allowing their registrations to remain inactive. The process is intended to ensure that the central vehicle database reflects the current status of registered vehicles.
The Nashik RTO has asked motorists who believe they received an alert in error, including owners who are unsure about the applicability of PUC requirements to their vehicles, to visit the office and seek clarification.
