The Comptroller Auditor General of India criticised the Delhi Transport department for poor contract management and inaction resulting in extra burden Rs3.19 crore on vehicle owners of Delhi. Only 1,70,581 out of 10,17,764 vehicles have got High Security Registration plates (HSRP). Moreover, the Delhi Transport department has no mechanism to trace vehicles plying without valid Certificate of Fitness.
As per the report of CAG on Revenue and Social and Economic Sector (PSUs) for the year ended March 31, 2014, there are lapses in the process of selection and making vehicle registration certificates in smart cards for vehicle owners, and also failed to take concrete steps to monitor it. The department entered into an agreement with Shonk Technology International limited (STIl) to prepare vehicle registration certification (VRCs) and never took any step to decide on continuing with the services of STIl even as the company lapsed in process of implementation of Smart Cards for vehicle registration.
Following the Supreme Court’s direction on February 12, all State Governments were to implement the scheme of High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) in their entire States by April 30 in case of new vehicles and from June 2012 in case of old vehicles. The Department selected Rosmerta Technologies limited in April 2012 for affixation of HSRP on vehicles.
All vehicles registered on or after April 2012 were required to be affixed with HSRP by the firm at the time of registration of the vehicle. The firm guaranteed vehicle owners imperishable nature of HSRP for minimum five years and had to send a soft copy of the details to the Transport Department. Data shows that the firm fixed only 17 per cent HSRPs.
Not only that, under Section 56 of Motor Vehicles Act 1988, a transport vehicle shall not be deemed to be validly registered unless it carries a Certificate of Fitness (CoF) by prescribed authority in prescribed form. The CoF will be valid for two years in respect to a new transport vehicle and for 15 years in case of a non-transport vehicle. The CAG report has found huge irregularities revealing that more than 61,000 commercial vehicles and around 27 lakh non-transport vehicles whose fitness period had expired by March 31, 2014 were did not report for fitness test were plying on roads.