Recently, Greater Chennai Corporation posted on its X handle that 731 vehicles collected from various parts of the city have been scrapped. GCC, along with Greater Chennai Traffic Police and Greater Chennai Police, coordinates to remove abandoned vehicles in Corporation areas.
In the past too, both GCC and CTP had announced various drives to remove abandoned vehicles from city roads, but this exercise is not easy. A report in The Hindu in September 2023 stated that 205 out of 1,308 abandoned vehicles were cleared in 26 days.
There are a number of vehicles left on the road – some are in a dilapidated condition, many are parked on the roads by owners who do not want to give it away and have little space to park within their premises.
Departments act based on complaints from residents as well as on their own. Residents are required to file an FIR about such vehicles, stating that they have been has been lying unclaimed for a certain number of days.
Last year, GCC officials in Anna Nagar pasted a notice on condemned vehciles parked and on the pavement of Park Road in Anna Nagar Western extension.
The police carry out an investigation only if the vehicle has been stationary for over 15 days. The Regional Transport Office (RTO) is informed and details of the owner are collected. The owner decides whether to reclaim the vehicle; otherwise, the police take over the vehicle for the next step. While vehicles that are in working condition are auctioned off, those that are not, are scrapped.
A police official from E4 Abhiramapuram station stated that removing these vehicles is challenging as a majority of them are not in working condition. There is then the challenge of paperwork that is required to be able to return the vehicles to their rightful owners. Many abandoned vehicles could also be involved in theft, complicating the process.
As of June 10, 2024, E4 police had removed 15 vehicles from their area, with more complaints still being processed.
Police officials believe that with enough machinery and manpower, the process could be expedited.,
Vehicles abandoned at railway land, metro stations and private parking areas are handled by the respective entities. CMRL and Southern Railways inform the public about such vehicles through notifications on newspaper before handing them over to the police.
How to scarp your old vehicle
When you are ready to get rid of that old car that is not fit for driving anynore or is just beginning to gather dust, think of your responsibility towards the environment — scrap the vehicle.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways encourages citizens to voluntary scrap their vehicle through the vscrap portal https://vscrap.parivahan.gov.in. Owners can submit an online application for scrapping their old vehicles at any Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF) in the country.
RVSF accepts the application form, transfer the scrap value obtained for the old vehicle to the person’s bank account and generates a certificate of deposit. Certificate of deposit (CoD) is issued to vehicle owner as a proof of submitting the vehicle for scrapping. The CoD can be used for trading and has financial benefits as well. Certificate of Vehicle Scrapping (CVS) is generally issued after the procedure of dismantling and disposal of the vehicle has been completed.
CERO, a joint venture of MSTC Ltd and Mahindra Accelo, has one of its recycling units in Sriperumbudar. They pick up the vehicle from the owner’s place and transport it to the recycling plant. “Payment is made automatically after pickup is completed,” says a note on the website.
CERO provides a certificate of deposit (CoD) mentioning the vehicle details. “We will also provide an assurance certificate which confirms that the vehicles will be used by us only for recycling purpose,” it says.
Syed Sulthan K, managing director, NST Hitech Recycling, says the CoD document is helpful in availing incentives that vary from state to state. “One can trade this to buy a new vehicle. By producing the CoD, registration fee on the new vehicle is waived,” says Syed.
Local scarp dealer vs RVSF
Chances are that the local scrap dealer offers a better deal than the RVSF partner but make sure it does not come with the risk of misuse. An RTO official says they discourage people from going to the local scrap dealer, because the RC may not get cancelled.
All ferrous and non-ferrous metals are removed before the scrapping process.
Scrap from old vehicles serves as a cost-effective raw material for the steel industry. Syed says there should not be any scope for the engine to be sold to another person as it can be misused.
Next is the process of de-registration.
“We save all documents such as photographs of vehicle, engine, RC, PAN and Aadhar in our Cloud system for at least six months from the time the vehicle is scrapped for auditing purpose,” says Syed, adding that once the process is over the data is erased. Cero issues the certification of vehicle scrapping to the owner once the vehicle has been completely recycled.