The State Transport Commissioner in a notification issued on September 3 has given authorisation to all dealers to register vehicles.
Earlier in 2017, the then Transport Commissioner had issued a notification by which the vehicle dealers were collecting tax and registration fees. Bu at a later stage, the dealers started fleecing the vehicle owners by various means like handling charge, parking fees charge and extended warranty.
Besides, they did not sent the amount they collected as tax to the State exchequer, stated, All India Anti-Corruption Organisation covenor Subrat Kumar Nanda in a letter to the Commerce and Transport Department Principal Secretary. Nanda said the Transport Commissioner’s present notification is violation of the Odisha Motor Vehicle Rule 93 Section 13 and Motor Vehicles Act Section 48.
He said the parallel system of vehicle registration powers to the dealers is anti-people and the consumers would be exploited in the process. The State Government would lose all control over the dealers.
It is probe worthy in whose interest the notification has been issued without amending the Odisha Motor Vehicle Rules said Nanda and demanded immediate rollback of the decision.