For the differently-abled, the prelude to a drive can be deeply distressing

Even if the bureaucracy fails to create an enabling environment for the differently-abled, it makes sense not to frustrate their endeavours further with red tapism. But, members of the differently-abled community clearly feel otherwise based on their experiences.

Dilip Muralidharan, an educational consultant, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy soon after birth, confronted challenges in every stage of his search for a car.

“Firstly, there was very little information on whether a disabled person can use a car or buy a modified one. Even the dealers I met had no clue or were reluctant to register the vehicle as an invalid carriage and help me get road tax exemption,” he says.

When he finally got to a showroom to book a car, staff there kept saying that getting a road tax exemption was a complicated process. Despite Mr. Muralidharan offering to walk them through the process, they simply refused to register it as an ‘invalid carriage’, saying, “It wasn’t their usual process.”

Other dealers proposed a roundabout solution. “They wanted me to first pay the tax (usually in lakhs for a top-end sedan), and then, they said, they would write to the respective ministry to obtain the exemption, a months-long process,” he says.

When dealers were finally informed of laws to this regard, they relented but did not want to take responsibility for registration. Thus, Mr. Muralidharan had to write off the dealer’s responsibility for registering the vehicle.

The next step, a visit to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Tiruvanmiyur to register the car as an invalid carriage, only compounded his problems.

“It was both funny and humiliating. I was asked for a copy of the original G.O. that prescribes tax exemption even after I provided the notification of the G.O. and which date/year it was issued. Why should I be tasked with obtaining it? I had to read through many blogs and finally found it in a website for disabled people. I provided both the notification and the original G.O.”

Despite furnishing his National Disability ID and passbook which is now being issued by the government, he was also asked to produce a recommendation letter from the Differently Abled Welfare Office to avail of the road tax exemption. This, he says, is despite a G.O. clearly saying that the differently-abled must be given exemption.

He got that too. Now, he says he is at the mercy of officials at the RTO. “Though my car’s registration is finally complete, I am yet to receive the RC book. I have stood in front of these people long enough; hopefully, that helps. It’s going to take ages before I enjoy the benefits of using a comfortable car I have paid for with my hard-earned money and after undertaking loan commitments,” he says.

An official at the Tiruvanmiyur RTO said that the formalities were to ensure that the person is genuinely disabled. “Since it impacts the revenue of the State, we ask for it to make sure it is not misused. How else can we make sure the ID is genuine?”

When asked whether it was fair to make differently-abled persons run around despite having furnished at least three documents, he says: “These days, the differently-abled are quite independent and well-aware of their rights. Is it wrong to ask them to furnish one more letter just so that we can be sure?”