Ludhiana taxi association urges union minister to recruit 100 MVIs in Punjab

The taxi association urged the Union minister to conduct fitness inspections for vehicles throughout the month to clear the backlog, instead of restricting it to just 8 days a month in Ludhiana

The shortage of Motor Vehicle inspectors (MVIs) in the district, as well as the state, is causing inconvenience to commercial vehicle owners to get a fitness certificate for the passing f their vehicles.

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Acting on the issue, a taxi association has raised the issue of MVIs with the ministry of road transport. They sent an e-mail to Union minister Nitin Gadkari demanding 100 MVIs for Punjab.

At present, there is only one MVI in Ludhiana, who is also handling the additional responsibility of the Hoshiarpur district. As a result, owners of commercial vehicles are experiencing difficulties in getting their fitness certificate and passing inspections done. This shortage of MVIs has led to financial losses for commercial vehicle owners and transporters.

According to the Punjab Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, vehicles that operate based on permits are required to undergo a fitness or passing inspection once per year.

Azad taxi union Punjab in an email to road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said the job has to be performed by the MVI and for this purpose at present only 5 or 6 MVIs are deputed in the state, which is highly deficient in numbers.

The union president Sharanjit Singh Kalsi, said, “Under the present scenario, the government has only designated two days for securing fitness certificate and passing of the vehicle. However, only 60 vehicles are able to pass the inspection on these two days. As a result, the process of passing vehicles has become severely hindered and a backlog of work is rapidly accumulating.”

Due to the inadequate number of MVIs available, the process of passing a vehicle now takes up to four months and one has to schedule an appointment solely for this purpose, added the taxi association in its email.