Maha COVID-19 restrictions: Car home delivery now possible but with these caveats

However, the number of such home-deliveries is small at the moment, as the paperwork, including registrations is getting held up due to restrictions in the transport offices in the state too.

Auto dealers are anticipating a pile-up of registrations due to RTOs either being shut in many areas, or things moving at a slow pace. Not to mention, this will compound the already long waiting periods for passenger vehicles across manufactures.

Ahead of the Gudi Padwa festival on Tuesday, auto showrooms continue to be shut for physical deliveries. The Federation of Auto Dealers Association (FADA), however, has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to allow for partial operations in auto dealerships, especially since the festivals of Gudi Padwa, Ram Navami, and Baisakhi in the month of April traditionally see a large number of deliveries.

FADA is expecting clarity on its submission soon, even as the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) is also engaging with the Government of Maharashtra to consider allowing dealerships as well as RTOs to remain open.

SIAM is also in dialogue with the state government to iron out operational challenges that auto OEMs are facing.

Factories and workshops, classified under the Factories Act, are exempt from the restrictions announced in the Maharashtra government's order on Sunday.

The only respite for auto dealers at the moment is that they opened the month of April with low stock levels, so there is no fear of inventory build-up in the month that Covid-19 restrictions are in place.