May 31 last date for GPS installation to operate on Char Dham routes: Dass

Friday, 14 April 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

All vehicle operators interested in operating on Char Dham routes will have to compulsorily install GPS tracking devices by May 31. The Transport department will not issue trip cards to public transport vehicles without GPS after May 31 which is mandatory for vehicle operators, said the transport minister Chandan Ram Dass on Thursday. He said that the department has decided to give about two months time to install GPS on the appeal of the vehicle operators, but the state government is not likely to extend the date beyond May 31 as it is mandatory as per the guidelines of the central government. He said that the department has also started issuing green cards and so far, the department has issued over only 200 cards. He said that the vehicle operators have also asked to issue green cards till May 31 and assured that they will complete all the mandatory procedures in the stipulated time. 

Dass also informed that the State government will now provide Rs seven lakh as an ex gratia amount to the families of those killed in Roadways bus accidents. He said that in this ex gratia amount, Rs five lakh will be issued by the Roadways and Rs two lakh by the transport department. The amount will be issued immediately after the accident without any compulsion of a magisterial probe into the matter, said the minister. He said that he has also issued an order to release Rs seven lakh to the family of the 40-year-old woman and her teenage daughter who died in a bus accident on the Mussoorie-Dehradun on April 2.