Guidelines on TGSRTC merger with govt soon, says Ponnam

Hyderabad: Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Tuesday said that the government would soon release guidelines on the merger of TGSRTC with the government. He also announced that all the new vehicles to be procured by the government departments will be electric vehicles.

The Minister made these comments while replying to various supplementary questions on electric vehicle policy and RTC issues during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Replying to a question on the merger of TGSRTC with government, the Minister said that this was a policy matter and soon the government would release guidelines on this. He said that the government was also bringing a rule that all the new vehicles by government departments should be electric vehicles only.

The Minister further said that cases have been registered against vehicles operating without a fitness certificate and a pollution control certificate. In the last 24 months, 22,340 cases were registered against vehicles plying without a fitness certificate in the Hyderabad urban area, and 28,970 cases were registered against vehicles operating without a pollution control certificate. A sum of Rs 4.28 crore was collected from vehicles without a fitness certificate, and Rs 2.38 crore was collected from vehicles without a pollution certificate.

The Minister said that the Transport Department had already transitioned to the Sarathi system. There were difficulties for the past 10 years. Computerization will be completed in six months. Pollution testing centers have been linked to the Transport Department office in Hyderabad.

He said that there were a total of 1.8 crore vehicles in the state and 550 pollution testing stations. “We are setting up 15 automatic testing stations. Vehicles older than 15 years are being scrapped. RTC vehicles and government vehicles are also being scrapped. We have provided a concession for private passenger vehicles under the name of Green Tax. We have brought this to the attention of Union Minister Gadkari that we are unable to act strictly due to this concession,” said Prabhakar.

The Minister further said that the government was setting up 15 automatic testing stations in the first phase. In total, the government was setting up 37 stations. Stating that in Delhi, there was technology to prevent errors in issuing driving licences, ensuring they are issued manually, the minister said that the government was also setting up an automatic driving testing station to ensure accuracy.