Saturday, 01 April 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Transport department from Monday will take action against those Vikram operators who pick up passengers from anywhere on their respective routes in Dehradun except the starting point and the destination. The department has taken this decision after the High Court’s recent stay on the proposal of the Dehradun Regional Transport Office to convert more than 10 years old auto rickshaws and Vikram into clean fuel vehicles like CNG fuelled or electric hybrid vehicles. The regional transport officer (enforcement) Shailesh Tiwari said that Vikram operators hold contract carriage permits as per which they can go from one fixed stop to another on booking rather than picking up passengers anywhere from their routes.
Besides being illegal under the Motor Vehicles Act, this practice also causes traffic issues considering which, the enforcement team will start checking and taking action against Vikram operators, said Tiwari. The RTO issued an order on November 1 last year that auto rickshaws and Vikrams older than 10 years must be converted to clean fuel vehicles by March 31, 2023. The deadline for three-wheeler vehicles less than 10 years old was fixed as December 31, 2023. The order stated that old vehicles would not be allowed to operate after the said dates as they cause heavy air pollution. The RTO had also stated that it would issue stage carriage permits to new applicants for 18 routes to Vikram operators, unlike their current contract carriage permit.
The unions Vikram Jan Kalyan Samiti and Doon Auto Rickshaw Union filed a petition against the order in the high court. Pankaj Arora from the autorickshaw union said that according to section 59 of the MV Act, the age of any vehicle is fixed by the Central government through notification and the RTO does not have the authority to do it. He said that the date of the next hearing is on April 28. He said that since RTO was planning to implement the same order in the whole division, unions from Rishikesh, Haridwar and Roorkee had also filed similar petitions and the HC order will be applicable there as well. The unions said that they would adhere to all rules and approach the court again if RTO would go against the order.
