Saturday, 15 April 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The traffic police and the regional transport office of Dehradun will start an intensive checking campaign against Vikrams picking up passengers midway on their respective routes. The traffic police have seized over 30 Vikrams in the past two days for suc violations and this campaign will be run more intensely in various parts of the city from next week.
The superintendent of police (traffic) Akshay Konde said that Vikrams hold contract carriage permits as per which they are not allowed to pick up passengers midway. They are only allowed to go from one fixed stop to another on booking like autorickshaws. He said that many Vikram operators have even installed electric bells which they ask the passengers to use when they want to alight from Vikrams at their respective stops which is a violation under Motor Vehicles Act. He said that the authorities have given enough warnings to Vikram operators to operate as per the rules which are still being violated across the city considering which, the traffic police will now run an intensive checking campaign in a phased manner. Police will take action against violations and send the regular report to the transport department.
The regional transport officer (enforcement) Shailesh Tiwari also said that Vikram operators were given time to apply for stage carriage permits to operate four-wheeler vehicles by March 31 which was later extended to April 10 to give another chance to those who could not apply before. He said that since RTO has now opened the remaining applications to the general public and has issued permits to the Vikram operators who had applied on time, the department will now take stringent action against the violations under the MV Act.
The traffic police have started it already and we will start it from Monday too, said Tiwari. Talking about the strictness in the operation of Vikrams, Rajendra Kumar, now the president of Tata Magic union who was also the president of Vikram Jankalyan Sewa Samiti till a few days ago, said that authorities will take action if operators do not abide by rules. He said, “The RTO extended date twice to ensure maximum Vikram operators apply to get stage carriage permits but they stuck with old ways of operating vehicles. Most of the Vikram operators have received stage carriage permits to run clean-fuelled vehicles on routes and it is appreciable that authorities have decided to ensure public transportation runs as per the rules.”
