Hry to overcome shortcomings for vehicle fitness certificates: Expert
National Road Safety Council member Kamal Soi on Wednesday said the Haryana Transport Minister has assured to initiate action against ill-equipped centres issuing fitness certificates to vehicles plying in the state.
Chandigarh, April 13 (IANS) National Road Safety Council member Kamal Soi on Wednesday said the Haryana Transport Minister has assured to initiate action against ill-equipped centres issuing fitness certificates to vehicles plying in the state.
He said these shortcomings have created impediments in effectively implementing Section 56 of the Motor Vehicle Act of 1998.
"During my meeting with Haryana Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma on Tuesday, I highlighted the state is suffering a monthly revenue loss of Rs 6 crore. And since July 2021, the state exchequer has lost a revenue of more than Rs 60 crore," he told the media here.
"With the government coming up with these on PPP, it will generate revenue and also save precious human lives," said Soi.
He said he had made two representations -- dated October 30, 2021, and December 28, 2021, to the Transport Minister and the Transport Commissioner regarding the wrong practices with respect to the issuance of fitness certificates to vehicles in Haryana.
The Transport Department had issued 72 authority letters to dealers of OEM's to conduct fitness testing of vehicles and issue fitness certificates to the vehicles. These dealers did not have required testing equipment as laid out in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules and have still started issuing fitness certificates, which is a gross violation of laws.
"I had also met with the Additional Secretary (Transport) with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and apprised him about the rampant malpractices and irregularities in implementing the statutory rule with respect to the issuance of fitness certificates in Haryana," he said.
"As a road safety expert my major concern is that plying of unfit motor vehicles on the roads is significantly one of the major causes of road accidents," Soi said.
As per statistics, due to unfit vehicles, accidents have been on the rise and Haryana ranked eighth in the ranking of top 10 cities in 2020 in terms of road accidents.