A file image of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India building.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
GUWAHATI
Almost 16,000 vehicles with the same chassis number and engine number are registered in multiple Northeastern States, the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the 126-member Assam Assembly on Thursday (February 19, 2026) said.
The report said a test check of records of the VAHAN database for Assam and seven other States in the region revealed that 15,849 vehicles bearing the same chassis and engine numbers were registered in two or more States.
Of these, 12,112 vehicles were registered in Assam without the mandatory no-objection certificate. This accounted for 76% of such vehicles.
In India, a vehicle must have a unique registration number at any given time. A vehicle can be re-registered in a new State upon relocation, which cancels the registration in the previous State.
The CAG report flagged “significant deficiencies” in the issuance of transport vehicle permits across eight test-checked District Transport Offices, with only 26,105 permits (21.87%) issued against 1,19,369 registered vehicles (2019-24).
The report noted with concern the contract carriage permits issued to school buses across eight districts of Assam. A contract carriage permit is a license allowing a vehicle to carry passengers for hire as a whole, rather than on an individual fare-paying basis.
The CAG said that school buses in these districts were issued contract carriage permits instead of Educational Institution Bus (EIB) permits, bypassing mandatory fitness tests. “This defeats the purpose of EIB permits, which are specifically designed to ensure enhanced safety standards for school transportation,” the report read.
The audit report also underlined the “exponential increase” in Assam’s vehicular population, which has “outpaced” the Transport Department’s workforce capacity, with vacancy ranging from 30% to 57%.
On the Excise front, the CAG suggested prescribed norms of production of alcohol from grains by taking into consideration the starch content in these grains and the technology employed by distillers for fermentation and distillation.
It also advised the Excise Department to consider prescribing norms for the production of beer from grains, according to a 1918 manual. The department was asked to amend its rules to include clear, enforceable penalties for microbreweries producing draught beer beyond the 5% v/v (volume per volume) limit, and establish routine testing and monitoring protocols to ensure compliance with legal strength requirements.
The CAG stated that such norms were necessary due to potential under-reporting of beer produced between 2018-19 and 2023-24. The actual production of 1,809 lakh bulk litres during this period fell short of the minimum expected yield of 2,039.71 lakh bulk litres, it pointed out.
Published – February 20, 2026 02:53 am IST
