Greater Chennai Corporation to E-auction abandoned vehicles

CHENNAI: 7,877 abandoned vehicles have been seized by the Greater Chennai Corporation from roadsides, and they will be put up for e-auction on September 27. The civic body received an NOC from the traffic police department to go ahead with the e-auction and is working with the latter to tow these vehicles.

A senior official said, "We had put the list of vehicles alongside their registration numbers on our website on August 20. Any person can come forward and claim it within 15 days of the list being uploaded (on www.chennaicorporation.gov.in). Vehicles that don't have any claimants are considered abandoned. If people don't claim vehicles within this period, they would be put up for e-auction. The process of e-auction would provide for a transparent mechanism and invite interest from people across the country. The period for claiming these 7,877 vehicles has already ended”.

The value of the scrap being auctioned will be assessed and fixed by a valuation committee, which consists of corporation officials and one police officer. The final value, which is the sum at which the highest bidder will be allowed to buy the vehicle will be finalized by the valuation committee as well.
It had been announced in March that the civic body would begin a crackdown on abandoned vehicles which pose a nuisance on busy roads. Vehicles had been towed and moved to designated areas in Royapuram, Chetpet and Pallikaranai in each region of the civic body. 2,627 abandoned vehicles from zones 1 to 5, 2,926 vehicles from zones 6 to 10 and 2,324 vehicles from zones 11 to 15 have been seized. The e-auction will be carried out by the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation for the civic body.