JOIN USEmission test centres to be linked to NIC
To put an end to allegations of irregularities in the tender for setting up a mechanism to standardise and monitor the operation of emission test centres (ETCs), the Transport Department is planning to handover the project to the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Even as air pollution becomes a major cause for worry across the country, the ETCs have come under the lens for their illegal practices, including issuing emission test certificates to vehicles which were never tested.
“We cancelled the licence of 85 test centres which were found engaged in irregularities. Some of them did not have the required standards. The tender for standardisation aimed at putting an end to such practices while ensuring that the emission test process will be foolproof, preventing polluting vehicles from plying on the road,” a senior official from the Regional Transport Department (RTO) said.
The tender allowed officials to live monitor the functioning of the ETCs. However, following allegations that the technical requirements were set to favour a particular company and exclude all other players in the market during the JD(S)-led coalition government, the BJP government has put the same on the backburner.
Following directions from the government, RTO officials visited some cities in Tamil Nadu to assess the functioning of the ETCs which are linked to NIC. “A report has been submitted to the state government, which will take a final call on the issue,” the official
said.
Sources said that the report notes that monitoring the test centres through NIC will automatically link the Vahan 4 database, allowing officials to monitor accurate data as they can keep an eye on aged vehicles, the major source for emission-related pollution.
It has also been noted that awarding the project to private entities will bring in profit motive and inconvenience the public with a higher fee for the pollution test.
“The only limit with the NIC is that it doesn’t have advanced features for making online payments. However, that can be implemented when the NIC technology is scaled up,” the source added.