Hyderabad: Beginning Monday, Telangana will integrate its transport services with the national ‘Vahan’ portal, marking a decisive step towards streamlined, technology-driven governance in vehicle-related services. The system will be formally inaugurated by transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar, signalling the state’s full entry into a unified digital transport framework.The move, confirmed by senior officials of the transport department, would link the state’s vehicle registration system to the national database maintained by the Union ministry of road transport and highways. The integration is expected to eliminate long-standing hurdles faced by vehicle owners, especially in interstate vehicle transfers.“This integration will directly benefit Telangana by reducing administrative delays, improving revenue tracking, and ensuring uniform enforcement of transport rules across states. It will also strengthen the state’s ability to monitor compliance and streamline operations through a single, reliable national database,” joint transport commissioner M Ramesh told TOI.The ‘Vahan’ portal serves as a unified platform for vehicle registration data across India. While several states have already adopted the system, Telangana continued with its standalone IT infrastructure until now, often resulting in procedural delays for vehicle transfers, re-registration, or compliance issues across state borders.Officials said the transition gained momentum after the Congress govt came to power in Dec 2023, with the state first joining ‘Sarathi’ portal for driving licence services. The rollout of ‘Vahan’ now completes Telangana’s full integration into the national digital transport framework.From Monday, all vehicle-related data in Telangana would migrate to the central server, enabling smoother ownership transfers and easier vehicle usage across states. Buyers and sellers would no longer need to physically visit transport offices in other states for documentation, as processes would be handled digitally.The integration would also digitise key services such as change of ownership details, address updates, issuance of duplicate registration certificates, hypothecation entries for vehicle loans, and their closure upon repayment. In addition, the system would facilitate easier payment of e-challans and road taxes, particularly benefiting interstate commercial vehicle operators.A notable advantage of the platform is improved transparency in pre-owned vehicle transactions. Prospective buyers would be able to access vehicle histories, including ownership records and pending liabilities, reducing the scope for fraud.The state govt has also announced the scrapping of the additional 2% lifetime tax previously levied on second-hand vehicles, with the decision taking effect from Monday.Officials believe the integration would significantly enhance efficiency, reduce manual intervention, and bring Telangana’s transport services in line with national standards, while improving overall public convenience.
