Thiruvananthapuram: Vehicle owners are being forced to spend over Rs 5,000 to pay a fine of just Rs 105. A mistake made by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) in collecting user fees at check posts between 2018 and 2020 has led to vehicle owners facing penalties years later. Due to the complex procedures involved in the Vahan software paying the fine, owners are left with no choice but to pay the fees demanded by middlemen.

Around 80 percent of taxis and transport vehicles that crossed state borders are facing service restrictions due to these penalties. This is essentially a revamped version of an old fraudulent system. To clear the issue, vehicle owners must approach the registration office (mother office) where the vehicle was originally registered. However, in most cases, ownership would have changed hands, and the vehicle would be registered in a different location. Fines can only be paid online after obtaining a username and password from the mother office. 

Once the payment is made, the receipt must be submitted to have the service restriction lifted. Previously, the fine could be paid online, and owners could simply inform the authorities via phone to have the restriction removed. However, a recent update to the VAHAN software now requires the restriction to be lifted directly from the respective offices. This change has created an opportunity for middlemen to exploit vehicle owners.

As a result, years after officials made errors in tax calculations, vehicle owners are now being forced to pay hefty fines. Some have even had to pay up to Rs 1 lakh. The issue comes to light only when owners attempt to pay fees for services like fitness renewal or ownership transfer. The restriction can only be lifted if the application is cancelled, which results in the paid fee being lost.