Vahan glitch cripples vehicle registration in Kerala; fancy number booking suspended

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Vehicle registration across Kerala has been disrupted for a week due to a technical glitch in the Vahan software. The booking of fancy numbers has also been halted because registration fees and taxes cannot be processed.

Without at least a temporary registration, new vehicle owners are unable to operate their vehicles legally. Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) officials said the breakdown is part of a nationwide issue and assured that a fix is expected soon. While similar glitches were resolved in other states by Monday, the problem in Kerala remains unresolved.

Technical experts from the National Informatics Centre, which manages the platform, are working to restore the system. Officials said the issue was partially resolved by Tuesday afternoon.

The outage has affected several related services, including applications for duplicate permits and inspection reports for vehicles marked for demolition. Service bans imposed on vehicles due to unpaid fines cannot be lifted. Users say the recurring crashes of the Vahan platform have been an ongoing source of frustration for months.

The online auction of fancy numbers, conducted exclusively through Vahan, has also been impacted. Several buyers reportedly lost their preferred numbers after crashes interrupted the bidding process.

With the portal down, dealerships have been unable to update documents or complete registration for buyers. Showroom owners said they continued to wait, expecting the system to resume quickly, but the fault persisted into the fourth day. New vehicle registration came to a standstill, they said, and it will take several days to clear the backlog caused by the shutdown.