The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a fresh notification has extended the validity of all statutory documents related to motor vehicles till July 31.

These documents are fitness and pollution certification, national permits, and motor vehicle insurance.

In its earlier order on March 30, enforcement authorities were directed to treat documents expiring between Feb 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020 as valid till the end of June.

However, the ministry has now also waived off the late fee charged for the renewal of documents, till July 31.

The Ministry of Road Transport Highways communique said:

"It has also come to the notice of the Government that citizens are facing difficulties in respect of various fees/late fees as mandated under rule 32 and 81 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 due to lock down in the country and closure of Government Transport Offices." 

 "There are cases where the fees have already been paid, for the service or renewal, however the process could not be completed due to lockdown. Further, there are issues where citizen is finding difficult to deposit fees due to closure of RTO offices", the MoRTH communique said.

"The extension is welcome as it is still impossible for truckers to visit RTOs,"  Abhishek Gupta, Joint Secretary, All India Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA), told CNBC-TV18.

"AITWA had highlighted on behalf of many members that the penalty being charged by system needs to be waived" he said.

He said:

"These amounts are increasing the burden on truckers who are struggling to keep their trucks moving. We have requested for more digital payment processes from MORTH to reduce visiting RTOs and hope same will be considered."

CNBC-TV18 had reported that in view of low demand and high operating costs, transporters are mulling options such as surrendering their vehicles to the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) to relieve them of taxes for the period they are not being used.

Source Link

Picture Source :