Paperwork
The documents needed vary according to what's being done. Buying a second-hand bike in India, riding it around and then selling it again is relatively straight forward and needs a minimum of paperwork but riding it home requires more. The documents discussed here relate to the bike only but you may need additional documentation for yourself such as visas.
| Activity | Ownership Document | 'No Objections' Document | Insurance Certificate | Letter from Embassy/High Commission | Carnet de Passage | International Driving Licence |
| Buying a second hand bike |  |
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| Buying a new bike | |
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| Selling a bike | |
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| Riding in India | |
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| Riding home | |
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Strangely, an Ownership Document does not have to be in the name of the person who owns the bike. When buying second hand the Ownership Document must be obtained along with a written statement from the previous owner stating that the bike has been sold to you. There is no need to get the Ownership Document changed into your name. When selling the bike within India, the same process is followed with you writing a statement saying that you have sold the bike to the new owner. If you opt for a new bike, as we did, you will have the Ownership Document in your own name. To get this you will need an Indian address that is not a hotel, a letter from your Embassy/High Commission and there is a nominal fee. An agent will help you with all of this including the address. The only agent I can recommend is Lalli Singh in the Carol Bagh, New Delhi. Whether the bike is new or old, you will have to get the Ownership Document changed into your own name if you want to bring the bike home.
One of India's little foibles. If you intend to sell a bike in a different state to the one you bought it in, you need a No Objections Certificate - a silly piece of bureaucracy that simply gives you permission to sell the bike. Most people get this document even if they plan to sell the bike back to where they bought it; this allows them to change their mind when hundreds of miles away. Get an agent to help you get the document; the only one I can recommend is Lalli Singh in the Carol Bagh, New Delhi.
You must have an insurance certificate if you are going to ride the bike in India. Cover can be basic third party type of fully comprehensive. There is no point at all in getting comprehensive insurance as no claim can be settled in India until a number of years have passed since the incident. Get an agent to obtain your insurance for you and insist that you only want basic cover. If you ride the bike home, you will do so without any insurance at all. Keep your Indian insurance document (conveniently written in Hindi) to wave at people should they challenge you (nobody bothered us) but it will not be valid. Just keep your head down and don't have any accidents!!
Letter from Embassy/High Commission
If you buy a new bike or if you need an existing Ownership Document to be changed into your name, the Indian authorities insist on a letter from your Embassy. The letter is a standard one and your Embassy will know what to do; it's basically just a statement to the effect that your government will not hold the Indian government responsible should you kill or maim yourself on your bike. If you buy the bike in Delhi, as we did, it is simply a case of going down the road to your Embassy and asking for a letter. If you are not buying the bike in Delhi I really don't know how you get the letter or even if one will be required. The best bit is that you may have to pay your Embassy for the letter. If you're British then you will already be fed up by this point with having to pay more than anybody else for various visas, etc, around the world. Now your own government joins in and rips you off to the tune of £25 just for a letter. We heard of people standing their ground and causing a fuss and getting the fee reduced. I'd certainly recommend this and tell them from me that they are a bunch of robbing bast.....
If you want to ride the bike out of India you will need one of these trick and expensive documents. The exception to this is Nepal where you are allowed to ride after only a little paperwork at the border. The Carnet allows you to enter each country without paying import duty on the bike. If you leave a country without the bike, the government uses the Carnet to claim the relevant duty; sometimes several times the value of the bike. The Carnet must be issued in your own country and it is usually issued by a motoring organisation. In the UK it is the Automobile Association (AA). You need to know the registration number and frame & engine number of the bike and you need to list the countries that you want the Carnet to apply to. Sometimes it can be a problem getting Pakistan included. The Carnet costs about £80 but you also need some financial backing in case the Carnet is put into action. You need an insurance scheme or guarantee that provides enough money to cover the highest import duty of the countries you'll pass through. This could add another £80 to your bill but it could cost you more like £3000 if you lose the bike and a government claims on your Carnet. Organise all this at home if you can but we managed to do it all from India using faxes, the very helpful AA and the not so helpful DHL to get the document couriered to us.
Get this from your motoring organisation. In the UK it's issued by the Automobile Association and costs about £6. We got one sent out to us with our Carnet but it's better to take one away with you.