Pune: The regional transport office (RTO) in Pune has seen a drop of 9% in registration of vehicles and 66% of EVs during the Akshay Tritiya week in 2026 as compared to the corresponding festive period last year, said figures released by the office.This year, 7,579 regular vehicles and 306 EVs were registered between April 12 and 19 as compared to 8,298 and 893, respectively, between April 23 and 30 (Akshay Tritiya period), last year.RTO officials said the number of vehicle registrations in the last financial year was impressive, but there was nothing to worry about this year’s figures. They said buying vehicles during festivals was becoming passé.“Akshay Tritiya is an auspicious festival for sure, but the majority of people buy gold and not vehicles during this time. Vehicle registrations have been soaring in general and the same is expected to continue. The EV segment has drastically improved too and it will grow as far as registrations are concerned,” said a senior RTO official.During Gudi Padwa, this year, regular vehicle registrations at Pune RTO saw a drop of around 10% and 28% for EVs. While in 2025, 13,190 regular vehicles and 2,124 EVs were registered, the same stood at 11,937 and 1,530, respectively, during the festival in 2026.“People buy new vehicles through the year now. Personal vehicles have become important owing to constraints in the public transportation system in the city. In such cases, people don’t wait for festivals to buy vehicles. It is proved by the fact that registrations in FY 2025-26 were far bigger than FY 2024-25,” another official told TOI.In 2025 (calendar year), the total vehicle registrations in Pune stood at 3.3 lakh compared to 3 lakh in 2024. In FY 2025-26, vehicle registrations stood at 3,45,455 against 3,04,610 in FY 2024–25. There was a major spike in EV registrations too.Nitin Kulkarni, a working professional and resident of Kothrud, said, “I bought a two wheeler a month ago as waiting for a festival would be too long. We take new vehicles to temples for auspicious reasons, anyway. My sister has taken my old two-wheeler to commute to and from college. Hence, I needed to buy a new one urgently to go to office. In Pune, using public transportation is difficult, costly and unreliable.”
