Pune’s Vahan portal has developed errors again, disrupting vehicle transfer applications and several other Regional Transport Office services just 15 to 20 days after the system resumed following an outage that had lasted about a month, according to a report by Pudhari.
The immediate problem is affecting vehicle transfer applications. The fields requiring a vehicle’s horsepower and wheelbase details are reportedly remaining blank, preventing applicants from submitting forms. As a result, vehicle transfers and other services dependent on the portal have begun to stall again.
The Vahan platform is used by the Regional Transport Office for a range of transport-related services. The National Informatics Centre provides the RTO with the Vahan portal as well as transport information technology services and digital facilities. The report said these systems are updated and modified periodically, and that users regularly experience slower portal performance while such updates are under way.
RTO employees told Pudhari that complaints about problems on the portal had increased over the past two to three days. Attempts to contact Pune Regional Transport Officer Archana Gaikwad for a response were unsuccessful, the report said.
The disruption is also affecting services beyond ownership transfers. Representatives handling auto-rickshaw-related work said renewals of rickshaw permits, cancellation of hypothecation after loan repayment and transfers into a widow’s name had been stalled. These services often require time-bound documentation and coordination between applicants, financiers, vehicle owners and the transport office.
Agents also told the newspaper that problems with the Vahan system had persisted for several months. They said vehicle-passing work had remained suspended for several days. A senior agent attributed further difficulty to irregularities in tests conducted under the new automated testing system, saying that some vehicle owners had preferred to get their vehicles passed in other cities.
The report also linked the portal-related disruption to delays in scheduling driving tests that applicants must take before their learning licences expire. This can create an administrative problem for applicants who have completed the online or initial licensing process but cannot obtain a test appointment within the validity period of their learning licence.
The issue has drawn the attention of commercial vehicle users as well. Tempo operators from the Market Yard recently met officials to raise concerns about difficulties with vehicle passing. The report did not specify when the portal errors would be fully resolved or whether the RTO had issued an alternative procedure for applicants whose forms cannot be submitted online.
The immediate next step is expected to be technical intervention on the Vahan platform and clarification from the Pune RTO on pending applications, vehicle-passing procedures and test appointments. The RTO’s formal response and any service restoration notice will determine how affected applicants can proceed.
