.png)
The process of vehicle registration has always been an arduous and time-consuming task. Various stakeholders are involved, from buying a vehicle until the deeds are passed on to the car owner's name.
The car registration process can be subject to delays, and it takes approximately a week at the least for the same to be finalized. This is discounting the time you spend jumping through hoops to get your vehicle insured and then approaching the concerned authorities to obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) and clearance for your vehicle.
Besides being tedious, the customer's information lies in several disparate databases of the involved stakeholders, which can even lead to data leaks and, consequently, fraud and misuse of the information.
If all relevant parties have visibility to the car and consumer information maintained on decentralized ledgers, the entire vehicle registration procedure can be made simpler.
In this article, we will take a look at the challenges plaguing the present vehicle registration architecture and how they can be refined.
It should be no coincidence that customers today expect seamlessness and personalization in everything, including car registrations.
As artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) develop and radically alter how vehicles operate, the ripples of these transformative shifts are being felt throughout the vehicle acquirement lifecycle.
According to an IBM analysis, automobile use as a means of transportation for private use will decline by 5% over the next decade. In addition, 37% of poll participants said they would be very keen on proposing ideas to jointly develop new car products and streamline the registration process.
This, in turn, is due to the ever-increasing complexity of car registration, data fraud, and the rise of ride-sharing services.
Several people continue to think that blockchain can only handle and manage cryptocurrency transactions. While true, blockchain has found some intriguing applications in the registration of automobiles.
The whole process of registration can be significantly modified with blockchain since it offers a decentralized network that eliminates the need for total trust in a centralized third party. Fairness is upheld as DLT records immutable logs of each operation or transaction throughout the whole vehicle registration procedure.
This will foster instant data communication across all ledgers in the blockchain and simultaneously update all stakeholders involved to rule out the possibility of fraud.
Automotive vehicle registration has historically been a laborious process. Multiple stakeholders are involved in a time-consuming procedure that runs the danger of information manipulation, data leaks, and other problems thanks to its convoluted nature.
In fact, payment fraud is a $20 billion-a-year problem, according to Constantin von Altrock, Director of Counter Fraud Management at IBM. Even though financial institution-related fraud frequently receives greater public coverage, fraud in automobile registration is a serious problem.
Through increased transparency and enhanced tracking inventory, blockchain can help lower and even avoid fraud in the vehicle distribution lifecycle. Because the data is on a common, shared ledger, it is straightforward to determine the origin of a transaction or a product.
The car registration procedure can be streamlined using blockchain and smart contracts. Blockchain uses smart contracts, which are computer algorithms that are designed to create agreements between users.
Smart contracts can be used to guarantee that the agreement's conditions are carried out immediately and that breaching the contract is prohibitive. It is possible to develop decentralized blockchain-based systems for automobile registration by expanding the features of smart contracts.
While we have dealt with the potential of blockchain for automotive vehicle registration, let's take a look at how it will work. To answer this properly, it is essential to know the current vehicle registration lifecycle and the stakeholders involved.
In addition to the current ramifications accompanying this slipshod process, this drawn-out process of car registration can also add to delays.
Valuable time can be saved while also eliminating all the flaws of the current method with the introduction of blockchain and smart contracts at different phases of this process. Let's take a look at how this can be achieved.
The automobile producer adds new vehicles to the blockchain network in the form of a smart contract by providing basic information like brand, model, variant, chassis details, engine serial number, etc.
The producer then carries out the sale of the vehicle to the dealer on the smart contract. Once the terms specified in the contract are met, the smart contract is implemented, transferring the vehicle's title and ownership to the dealer.
When the dealer intends to sell their wares to a final consumer, they can execute a car sale contract, which sends out an automated application for car registration and insurance.
The insurance agency and registration authority can each offer proof of insurance and registration after using blockchain to confirm the necessary details about the consumer and the vehicle.
The car owner may use a shared ledger to seek a NOC after the dealer has confirmed the purchase. These smart contracts based on a ledger can then be used to submit a request for a NOC and documents for clearance for the automobile.
Once the relevant details from the blockchain have been successfully validated, the relevant authorities may grant consent, along with the NOC, which can then be utilized to obtain a new registration number for the car.
After confirming the vehicle's information, together with the purchaser, dealership, and manufacturer from the decentralized ledgers, the licensing authorities will certify the vehicle as legal.
The purchase procedure from the producer to the buyer is expedited. All parties are notified of the same thanks to the immutable records stored on the blockchain, thus minimizing potential subterfuge at all levels.
Vehicles are valuable assets that are used extensively worldwide. The method will be more reliable if blockchain technology is used to boost the car registration process.
This will further alleviate the efforts required on the part of automakers, consumers, regulators, and all other related stakeholders to promote a streamlined solution for the existing system.
