Now, state order on vehicle fitness renewal goes for toss

Or (HEADLINE) Owners fined forvehicle fitness renewal delay

(STRAP) The state govt had ordered against the penalty on May 29

QUOTE (NOT IN COPY): “The Vahan software is being used to renew the fitness certificate. It will continue to impose the fine for delay in fitness renewal until a provision to extend the validity of documents is not made in it.”

– Surender Siwach, Motor Vehicle Inspector

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, June 21

Nearly a month of the state government order on not levying fine on delay in fitness renewal, owners of private vehicles are compelled to pay the penalty.

The road transport authorities, however, cited technical reasons for taking the penalty.

The government had issued the order on May 26 after The Tribune highlighted the issue in these columns on May 25, stating that the Centre’s order on the extension of the validity of fitness, permit and driving licence (which got expired after February 1) till July 31 were thrown to the winds by penalising the vehicles.

The state government’s orders had infused a sense of confidence among the owners but these have not yet been executed, forcing the vehicle owners to take to Twitter to register their protest.

“How much time will the State Transport Commissioner take to implement his own as well as the Centre’s orders? Still fine is being levied on all types of renewals. The dealing hand says that they are waiting for the Centre to make necessary amendments to the software,” said Anil Kaushik, president, Progressive Private Schools’ Association, in his tweet to CM Manohar Lal and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Kaushik said it was beyond understanding who would implement the orders and when? A large number of school buses across the state were waiting to get fitness renewal without fine but it seems the government had forgotten its own orders, he added.

Raju, a driver, said he went to the transport office to get the fitness of his pick-up vehicle renewed as it was delayed by a month following the lockdown, but he had to return empty handed after finding a penalty on the renewal.

Admitting the fine being slapped on delay, Surender Siwach, Motor Vehicle Inspector, said there was an online system to pay the fee, hence the local authorities could not do anything.

“Moreover, even when we request the vehicle owners to wait for some more days, they still insist on renewal,” Siwach claimed.