Tracking mandatory for buses, trucks from Jan 1

The transport department has made it mandatory to install a vehicle location tracking system in buses and trucks.

The move is aimed at making transport services safer for women and children, besides cracking down on tax evaders and misuse of permits.

Rolling out the new system, the transport department has stated that the new feature will be a must in all such vehicles which will be registered from January 1.

Confirming that the new feature will be rolled out from the beginning of the new year, Transport Commissioner V P Ikkeri told DH that the new system will serve many purposes.

“The new system will serve various purposes, including the safety of passengers, monitoring vehicles whether it is operating within the permitted area, women safety and tracking of delivery of goods as mentioned on the Bill,” he explained.

Further, Ikkeri clarified,
“To begin with, the vehicle location tracking system will be installed in buses and trucks. Subsequently, the government will decide whether to implement the same in all vehicles.”

According to the transport department, the owners of the vehicles themselves have to install the GPS-enabled tracking system. The details of the vehicle will be registered at a data centre controlled by a government-appointed agency.

“Wherever the vehicle goes, the route will be registered at the data centre. Only the transport and police personnel, if needed, can access the details of the vehicles,” a senior official explained.

All these years, the individual transport companies and privately owned transport companies had installed GPS enabled tracking devices and they were tracked by their own facilities. But with the latest system, the government will directly track the movement of vehicles. The move will also help in identifying tax evading vehicles.

Number plates

Close on the heels of mandating the tracking system in vehicles, the Centre has ordered the use of high-security number plates in all vehicles that will be registered from April 1, 2019.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a circular to all the states. As per the latest order, vehicles manufacturers are required to install the high-security number plates and the vehicle cost will be inclusive of the number plate. “As stated by the Centre, we will only register vehicles that come with these number plates. The state has no role in this,” Ikkeri added.