How to claim the COD discount on your new vehicle, step by step

The Certificate of Deposit — everyone calls it the COD — is the part of the scrappage policy that people either do not know about or do not believe. It is a government-backed document issued when you deposit an end-of-life vehicle at a registered facility, and it is the reason scrapping properly is usually worth several times more than the metal price a local dealer offers.

What the certificate is actually worth

• A discount on your new vehicle. Manufacturers were asked under the policy to offer around 5% on the ex-showroom price against a scrappage certificate; in practice offers land in the 4–6% band and vary by brand, model and running scheme.
• A waiver of the registration fee on the replacement vehicle.
• A road-tax concession from the state — the central advisory asks states to allow up to 25% for private vehicles and up to 15% for commercial vehicles. Rajasthan participates; check the exact percentage in force in the state where you will register the new vehicle.
• Separately from the certificate, the money the facility pays you for the vehicle itself.

Step 1 — Confirm the vehicle is genuinely eligible

The vehicle must be yours to dispose of. That means the registration is in your name, any loan against it is closed and the hypothecation removed or a No Objection Certificate obtained from the financier, and there are no pending challans or court cases attached to it. A vehicle reported stolen or held as evidence cannot be scrapped. None of this is the facility being difficult — the RTO will not cancel a registration with encumbrances on it, and the COD cannot be generated until the deposit is recorded against a clean record.

Step 2 — Deposit the vehicle at a registered facility

This is the step that has to be done at an RVSF and nowhere else. The facility verifies your identity and ownership, weighs and inspects the vehicle, agrees a price with you, and records the deposit on the government scrapping portal. Ask before you hand anything over how and when you will be paid, and get the agreed amount in writing. A serious facility will do this without being asked.

Step 3 — Collect the COD, then the CVS

Two different certificates exist and they arrive at different times. The Certificate of Deposit is issued when the vehicle is deposited — that is the one carrying the financial benefit. The Certificate of Vehicle Scrapping is issued after the vehicle has actually been dismantled and is the document that proves destruction and supports cancellation of the registration. You want both. Keep the digital copies as well as the printed ones.

Step 4 — Make sure the registration is cancelled

Deregistration is what ends your liability. After scrapping, the RC record should move to a scrapped status against your vehicle number on the Parivahan system. Check it yourself a few weeks later rather than assuming. Until the record changes, you are still the registered owner of a vehicle you no longer have.

Step 5 — Use the certificate at the dealership

1. Tell the dealer you hold a scrappage COD before you negotiate, not after. It is a separate benefit and should not be quietly absorbed into the discount you would have got anyway.
2. Ask for the scrappage benefit to appear as its own line on the quotation.
3. Hand the certificate details to the dealer for the registration paperwork so the registration-fee waiver is applied at the time of registration — claiming it back afterwards is far harder.
4. For the road-tax concession, the certificate number goes into the tax computation at registration. Confirm the state's current rate rather than assuming the maximum.
5. Keep a copy of everything. The benefit is claimed against a certificate number that must match the government record.

If you are unsure whether your vehicle qualifies, or what the discount would be worth against the specific model you are considering, ask us before you visit the showroom. We will work the arithmetic through with you on the call.