How to get a bike or car modification approved on your RC in India

If a change to your vehicle will show up on the registration certificate, there is a legal way to do it, and it runs in three steps. You apply before the work starts, you get the work certified, then you get the RC endorsed.

Rule 47A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules says an owner who intends to alter or retrofit a vehicle must seek the prior approval of the registering authority, either electronically through the portal or in physical form, in Form 22C. The registering authority grants or refuses in Part II of the same form within seven days of receiving Part I. If it does neither in those seven days, prior approval is deemed to be granted. Once the work is done and a certificate of compliance is issued, Rule 47B gives you fourteen days from the date of that certificate to apply for the alteration or retrofitment to be entered in the RC.

That is the process. The limit on what you can put through it is Section 52 of the Motor Vehicles Act. In Regional Transport Officer vs K. Jayachandra, decided on 9 January 2019, the Supreme Court held that the emphasis of Section 52(1) is not to vary the original specifications by the manufacturer, and set aside the Kerala High Court's view that structural alteration was permissible. Other entries in the RC can still be changed under Section 52(2), (3) and (5). In plain terms, a fuel retrofit, an engine replacement or a colour change go through Form 22C. A wider body, a changed roofline or a reworked seating layout do not become legal just because you filed a form.

What it costs and what to carry

Fees sit in Rule 81 of the CMVR, and state transport departments publish the table. Telangana lists the fee for recording an alteration in the certificate of registration as ₹150 for a motorcycle, ₹300 for a non-transport light motor vehicle, ₹500 for a transport three wheeler or LMV, ₹1,250 for an imported motorcycle, ₹2,500 for an imported motor vehicle and ₹1,500 for any other vehicle.

Puducherry's transport department puts the alteration fee at ₹500 per alteration and ₹700 for additional alterations, with the service taking about seven days. It asks for the RC and insurance certificate, consent from the financier if there is a hire purchase endorsement, a duplicate RC in those cases, and proof that current tax is paid.

The June 2026 change worth knowing

On 9 June 2026, MoRTH notified the Central Motor Vehicles (Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2026 through G.S.R. 458(E), substituting several provisos in Rule 126. The new wording says altered, retrofitted or adapted motor vehicles shall be tested and type approved by the testing agencies specified in the rule, or self-certified by original equipment manufacturers, or self-certified by workshops authorised by the state government, in accordance with Section 52.

This matters for the certificate of compliance. It no longer has to come only from a designated test agency. An OEM, or a workshop your state has authorised, can certify the job. What it does not do is widen the list of changes Section 52 allows.

Insurance, and why the paperwork is cheap by comparison

Tell your insurer and get a written endorsement on the policy, with a revised IDV that includes the modification. Shriram General Insurance's guidance is blunt about the alternative: an undeclared modification can mean the claim is rejected or only partly paid.

Enforcement is active. On 24 August 2026, a Kerala High Court bench of Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S. Told the Motor Vehicles Department and police to levy ₹5,000 per unauthorised alteration rather than one consolidated fine, after a Mahindra Thar with six unauthorised lights was charged ₹5,000 in total. The drive it was reviewing had checked 8,167 vehicles and detected 2,092 offences.

Sources

• Rule 47A and 47B, The Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989
• Registration Fees under Rule 81, Telangana Transport Department
• Alteration in Motor Vehicle, Transport Department, Puducherry
• Central Motor Vehicles (Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2026, TeamLease RegTech
• No Vehicle Can Be Altered So As To Change Original Specification Made By Manufacturer: SC, LiveLaw
• Kerala High Court directs ₹5,000 per alteration fine, LiveLaw
• Car Insurance for Modified Vehicles, Shriram General Insurance