Dehradun, Haldwani RTOs to probe alleged irregularities in automated vehicle testing centres
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The State transport commissioner has directed the regional transport officers (Administration) of Dehradun and Haldwani to conduct a detailed investigation into the allegation of irregularities in automated testing centres.
The additional transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh said that the automated vehicle testing (fitness) centres in the State have been set up in the State as guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Reacting to the allegations levelled by the Uttarakhand Taxi Maxi Mahasangh on these centres, he said that the process of setting up these centres was started in the State in 2022 and they were established in Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Singh said automated testing centres have now been set up in Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee, Rudrapur, Haldwani, Vikasnagar and Tanakpur.
He clarified that in pursuance of a letter dated July 2, 2025 by the MoRTH, the old system of fitness check-up has been discontinued in the centres where automated vehicle testing centres had been established. Singh said that in protest against the above arrangement, a total of five writ petitions were filed by the vehicle owners in the Uttarakhand High Court. These petitions were jointly disposed of by the HC on August 17, 2025. The HC directed all the petitioners to submit their representations before the transport commissioner, Uttarakhand within one week and asked the transport commissioner to dispose of the representations within four weeks.
In pursuance of the HC order, the representations were submitted by the petitioners and after hearing them the Transport commissioner directed that since the automated station in Rishikesh will take some time to become functional the vehicle owners should be given an option of testing vehicles in the registration office. The commissioner directed that the vehicle testing should be done at the automated testing stations in Dehradun, Kashipur and Ramnagar and the Government of India should be requested to provide the option of testing to the vehicle owners at the office of the registration officer. He said that since the automated testing stations are fully functional at Vikasnagar, Haridwar, Roorkee, Rudrapur, Haldwani and Tanakpur the fitness of vehicles registered at these offices can be approved only through them.
In response to the allegation of irregularities in automated testing centres, the transport commissioner has directed the regional transport officers (Administration) of Dehradun and Haldwani to conduct a detailed investigation.
Singh said that all the RTOs have also been directed to submit a detailed report after assessing the losses incurred by the taxi operators in the recent natural disasters.
