Sale Documents & Agreements

Used Car Purchase Documents Explained

By Bill My Car · Updated 20 September 2026 · 4 min read

For Car and Bike Dealers in India

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When a dealer buys a used car into stock, the paperwork matters as much as it does on the way out. The documents you collect at intake are what protect you if the car turns out to have a loan on it, a dispute behind it, or an owner who was not entitled to sell. The core set is a purchase agreement, a handover receipt, a declaration and indemnity, and, where needed, an authorisation to sell.

Most dealers are careful with sale documents and casual with purchase documents. That is backwards. On the sale side you know the car. On the purchase side you do not, which is exactly when written protection is worth most.

The purchase document set

Here is what a used-car dealer should collect and sign when buying a car for stock, and what each one is for.

Take copies of the RC, insurance and PUC at the same time, and verify them before you pay. We cover that step in how to verify a used car RC.

Purchase agreement

This is the spine of the deal. It names the vehicle by registration, chassis and engine number, sets the agreed price and how it was paid, and states the condition the car is in at purchase. It is the document you point to if the seller later claims a different price or denies the sale.

Keep it plain and specific. Vague agreements protect no one. The registration number, the amount, the date, and both signatures are the non-negotiable parts.

Handover receipt

The purchase agreement says the deal is done. The handover receipt proves the car actually moved. It records the date and time, the odometer reading, and exactly what you received: the car, how many keys, the original RC, the insurance policy, the PUC, and any service records.

This is the document that settles who is responsible for what happened before you took delivery. Like the delivery note on the sale side, its value is the dated, signed record of the moment of handover.

Declaration and indemnity

This is the seller putting their promises in writing. In it, the seller declares that the car is theirs to sell, that it is free of loans, liens and legal disputes, and that the details they have given are true. The indemnity is the part that says the seller will make good any loss if that turns out to be false.

If a hidden challan, an undisclosed loan, or an ownership dispute surfaces after you have bought the car, this is the document that puts the cost back where it belongs. Never skip it, especially on a car you are buying quickly or from someone you do not know.

Authorisation to sell

Sometimes the person selling the car is not the name on the RC. It might be a family member, a fleet manager, or another dealer. In that case you need written authorisation from the registered owner allowing that person to sell, with the owner's ID attached.

Without it, you are buying from someone who may not be entitled to sell, and the transfer of ownership can be challenged later. If the seller cannot produce it, treat that as a reason to stop.

Do not forget the transfer forms

Get Form 29 and Form 30 signed by the seller at intake, even if you do not intend to register the car in your own name. Form 29 is the seller's notice of transfer, filed under Rule 55(1) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR) 1989. Form 30 is the transfer application under Rule 55(2).

The reason is simple: once you sell the car on, you will need these forms to complete the buyer's transfer, and by then the original seller is long gone. Collect them signed while the seller is standing in front of you.

If you are a MoRTH-authorised dealer, Form 29C records that a car has entered your stock under deemed ownership, without an immediate RC transfer into your name.

From purchase to stock in one flow

The whole point of good purchase paperwork is that it does not stay in a folder. It feeds the rest of the deal: the car goes into stock, sits as inventory, and later becomes a sale with its own documents.

Bill My Car is built around that flow. You record the purchase, create the purchase agreement, handover receipt and the rest from the same details, add the car straight to your stock, and every document is saved to your own Google Drive by registration number. When the car sells, the sale-side documents pull from the record you already made. Sign in and record a purchase.

Document requirements and CMVR rules change over time and vary by state. Confirm the current position with your local RTO before relying on a specific form or procedure.