Transport authority seeks clarification on penalty

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Mahendragarh, September 20

The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) in Narnaul has sought clarification from the state authority on imposing penalty on the owners of more than 10-year-old diesel vehicles for the delay in getting fitness certificate.

Interestingly, the clarification has been sought at a time when the authority has already charged penalty from numbers of such vehicles in the name of Late Passing Order (LPO).

The state authority had stopped issuing the fitness certificate to more than 10-year-old diesel vehicles in 13 districts of the state in December last year after the National Green Tribunal had directed the state government to impose a ban on the fitness certificate in the NCR to reduce pollution.

Recently, the authority lifted the ban and started charging fine of Rs 50 per vehicle per month from the vehicles for the ban period of 8 months.

The move irked the Progressive Private School Owners’ Association (PPSOA). “We have failed to understand why the vehicle owners are being penalised for the fault which they have not committed. Seeking clarification after charging fine from several people indicates that there is something fishy in the matter as original receipt of the fine is also not being given to the payers,” said Anil Kaushik, chief of the PPSOA.

Kaushik said the association would submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister on Wednesday for demanding an inquiry into the matter.

Sujan Singh, Secretary, RTA in Narnaul, said that clarification had been sought following objections from some vehicle owners over the penalty. He admitted that the vehicle owners were not at fault as they could not get the fitness certificate during the ban period.

Sawinder Singh, assistant secretary, RTA, said the Audit Department would raise objection if penalty for the delayed period was not charged.