JUST 5 MINUTES TO DECLARE A VEHICLE FIT (2) Don't declare vehicles fit in 10 mins: HC
Mahendra Kumar Gupta
Just 5 minutes to declare a vehicle fit
NEW DELHI: Believe it or not, but
the vehicle
inspection unit of the transport
department checks and calibrates over 500 vehicles in a day for issuing the
mandatory annual fitness certificate. This is despite the fact that the vehicle
inspection unit (VIU) doesn't have an automated I&C lane. The VIU, in fact,
takes only 5 minutes to inspect a vehicle, according to an RTI.
"It's a mockery of the entire process. What kind of inspection is
completed in five minutes," says Rejimon CK, the Dwarka resident who filed
the RTI. The answers are a real eye-opener.
The transport department says the vehicle inspection unit is equipped with an
automated I&C lane (for inspection) but it has not been working for a few
months. In the autorickshaw and taxi unit, the inspection has always been
carried out manually. It adds that both the VIU and ARU take only five to eight
minutes to check a vehicle, depending on the category. While passenger vehicles
take five to eight minutes, goods vehicles take four to five minutes, adds the
RTI.
VIU and ARU inspect commercial vehicles registered in Delhi, including trucks,
Gramin Sewas, autorickshaws and mini vans. The annual fitness certificate is
mandatory for all commercial vehicles. Without it, vehicles are not allowed to
ply on roads. Said a senior transport official, "Since commercial vehicles
cover long distances and experience a lot of wear and tear, they need to be
inspected to prevent breakdowns. There are over 72 lakh vehicles registered in
Delhi, of which more than 60% are commercial. And all are inspected at the
vehicle inspection unit or the ARU, if it's an autorickshaw or taxi."
That the five minutes spent on inspection are not optimum is evident from the
number of commercial vehicles that break down on roads every day. According to
the Delhi traffic police, around 15-20 vehicles break down every day, mostly
the commercial ones. Predictably, this leads to obstructions on roads and
traffic jams.
The RTI further says that apart from the 500 vehicles inspected every day, any
vehicle which has paid the fitness test fee has to be cleared on the same day
"irrespective of the duty hours". According to the RTI, 1,01,361
vehicles were "passed" in 2012, while only 10,654 vehicles failed the
test.
Don't declare vehicles fit in 10 mins: HC
MUMBAI: No fitness certificate will be issued to any vehicle in Maharashtra without tests as per norms, the Bombay high court ordered on Monday.
Warning of strict action if the order is flouted, a division bench of Justice D D Sinha and Justice Vijaya Kapse-Tahilramani referred to the state's high rate of road fatalities and said it was necessary to ensure safety of people.
"The process of issuing fitness certificates in a routine manner has to stop," said the judges, referring to an affidavit filed by state transport commissioner V N More that it doesn't take an inspector more than 10 minutes to check the fitness of a vehicle.
"We do not want wrong certificates to be issued to vehicles," observed Justice Sinha. "Accidents on the road are going up and many of the problems are related to the fitness of a vehicle. This concerns the safety of people at large and we want to reiterate that public safety depends on a vehicle's fitness."
The court said that only when an inspector is satisfied that a vehicle complies with all norms should a certificate be issued. "Otherwise, we will take strong action against whoever is responsible," said the judges.
With over 1.30 lakh deaths annually, India tops the world's road accident statistics. The state has one of the worst accident figures: around 77,000 road accidents annually and 13,000 fatalities.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Pune resident Shrikant Karve, who alleged that regional transport officers were ignoring procedure while issuing fitness certificates. He also referred to vacancies that additionally burden existing staff (of 788 posts of inspectors and assistant inspectors, who are supposed to carry out the tests, 166 are vacant).
All public utility and transport vehicles, including taxis, auto rickshaws, school buses, trucks and tankers, have to renew their fitness certificates once every two years. The transport commissioner told the court that Maharashtra has over 16 lakh vehicles requiring fitness certificates; 2,798 vehicles visit RTOs across the state every day for these. More said in his affidavit that in Pune, 27 inspectors carry out fitness tests for 240 vehicles every day and on an average, it takes just five to 10 minutes to conduct each test.The court expressed disbelief at this statement, especially after amicus curiae (friend of the court) advocate Uday Warunjikar pointed to a letter from the Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India, which said that on average the mandatory fitness test could take between 30-45 minutes. It is virtually impossible to carry out such tests effectively and as per norms (in the time mentioned by More,'' said the court, saying that More had failed to throw light on the issue. The court has asked the officer to file an affidavit in four weeks.
