Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: In a review meeting on Thursday in Bengaluru, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, issued the order instructing all officials in the department to examine and close all pending vehicle registration applications at the Regional Transport Offices across the state by November 30. During the meeting, it was noted that pending registration applications were mounting across the state, of which about 50% were new registrations.
A Transport Department official informed DH that a software glitch, in addition to errors during the digitisation of transport department data, has resulted in a backlog of pending cases, and that the department was working towards fixing it.
Safety measures
The Minister also ordered officials to issue fitness certificates to public transport vehicles only after ensuring that emergency doors are installed. "Be it a local bus or a luxury one, emergency doors are mandatory. In many buses, they only have windows for emergency exits. That is not enough. How will children and the elderly use them? Keeping this in mind, we have mandated that an emergency door is essential. No matter when the vehicle is registered, if these vehicles want to operate in Karnataka, they will have to adhere to our rules and safety standards," Minister Reddy told DH, adding that the department will also be cracking down on excessive/commercial baggage being transported in public use buses.
Levy tax
Authorities across the state have also been informed to diligently levy the Karnataka State tax on buses with All India Tourist Permits.
Apart from this, the officials were also ordered to strictly inspect school vehicles before renewing fitness certificates. The Minister also instructed the Transport Commissioner to form a special investigation team and conduct monthly inspections of school vehicles.
It was noted that so far, this financial year, the Transport Department has made a revenue of 7451.45 crore. The State Government has set a revenue collection target of Rs 14,457.73 crore for the department in the year 2025-26.