Govt notifies new permit regime for trucks

The ministry notified the required amendment in its Central Motor Vehicle Rules to enable the states to introduce it without any delay. As per the new regime, truckers will be given a pan-India national permit by collecting Rs 15 ,000 per annum.

Now, a truck owner has to pay Rs 20,000 annually to the state transport department which allows him access to his home state and three neighbouring states. For each additional state, he has to pay Rs 5,000 more.

Though the Centre has issued notification for the new permit regime, it may take a couple of weeks to implement it as the states have to make  amendments to the taxation law. The states conveyed this at a meeting of the Road Transport secretary with the state government officials—principal secretaries and commissioners (transport) of the states and UTs — held in Delhi on Friday.

In its latest letter, the ministry also stated that the State Bank of India, Government Accounts Department, Belapur, Navi Mumbai, will issue a list of State Bank branches which have been authorised to collect the permit fee. The National Informatics Centre is developing a software for issuing the national permit, it added.

“Once the software is developed in consultation with the NIC for the purpose of issuance of national permit and instructions to that effect are issued, information relating to the national permit issued in the interim period will be uploaded in that format.