Section 53 — Suspension of registration.

53. Suspension of registration.—(1) If any registering authority or other prescribed authority has 

reason to believe that any motor vehicle within its jurisdiction— 

(a) is in such a condition that its use in a public place would constitute a danger to the public, or 

that it fails to comply with the requirements of this Act or of the rules made thereunder, or 

(b) has been, or is being, used for hire or reward without a valid permit for being used as such, 

the authority may, after giving the owner an opportunity of making any representation he may wish to 

make (by sending to the owner a notice by registered post acknowledgement due at his address entered in 

the certificate of registration), for reasons to be recorded in writing, suspend the certificate of registration 

of the vehicle— 

(i) in any case falling under clause (a), until the defects are rectified to its satisfaction; and 

(ii) in any case falling under clause (b), for a period not exceeding four months. 

                                                           
1. Subs. by Act 27 of 2000, s. 2, for section 52 (w.e.f. 11-8-2000). 



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(2) An authority other than a registering authority shall, when making a suspension order under  

sub-section (1), intimate in writing the fact of such suspension and the reasons therefor to the registering 

authority within whose jurisdiction the vehicle is at the time of the suspension. 

(3) Where the registeration of a motor vehicle has been suspended under sub-section (1), for a 

continuous period of not less than one month, the registering authority, within whose jurisdiction the 

vehicle was when the registration was suspended, shall, if it is not the original registering authority, 

inform that authority of the suspension. 

(4) The owner of a motor vehicle shall, on the demand of a registering authority or other prescribed 

authority which has suspended the certificate of registration of the vehicle under this section, surrender 

the certificate of registration. 

(5) A certificate of registration surrendered under sub-section (4) shall be returned to the owner when 

the order suspending registration has been rescinded and not before.