The Uttar Pradesh transport department is ready with a new system under which all temporary transport permits will be issued automatically through a portal, with no manual intervention, obviating the need for applicants to visit regional transport offices (RTOs) for the purpose, officials dealing with the issue said.
All such permits, they said, would bear digital signatures of the competent authority and could be downloaded and kept in the DigiLocker, too, with no need for the holders to carry hard copy with their vehicle.
“The transport department has made all preparations to launch the new system by April-end,” an official said. “The starting will be made with short duration (one week) temporary permits and gradually long-duration temporary permits, as well as permanent permits, will be brought under the new system,” he said.
According to the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, a regional transport authority and the state transport authority may, without following the procedure laid down in section 80, grant permits to be effective for a limited period of four months to authorise the use of a transport vehicle temporarily for the conveyance of passengers on special occasions such as fairs and religious gatherings, or for purposes of a seasonal business, or to meet a particular temporary need like carrying a wedding party etc.
“Presently, applicants requiring a temporary permit for an activity have to visit RTO offices in working days and often have avail services of touts,” the official said.
{{/usCountry}}“Presently, applicants requiring a temporary permit for an activity have to visit RTO offices in working days and often have avail services of touts,” the official said.
{{/usCountry}}“Once the new system is in place, an applicant will be able to upload necessary documents and pay the specified fee online. After the credentials of the vehicle are verified with the help of the registration number, the applicant will get auto-approval and receive a link. He can download the permit copy signed digitally by using the link,” said the official while explaining the procedure.
Any holiday, he pointed out, would not affect the work of issuing temporary permits under the online system.
In a meeting before the assembly polls, chief secretary (CS) Durga Shankar Mishra directed the transport department to ensure that the system of issuing short-duration temporary permits in a complete automatic mode, through an end-to-end online system, was started by April-end.
The CS also asked the department to start the system of issuing stage carriage permits in the same manner by October 2022. A stage carriage permit holder picks passengers from one point and there can be various stages till the final destination point. A contract carriage permit allows a bus etc to carry passengers from one point to the other (like a bus carrying a wedding party or tourists etc) and not picking and dropping passengers in between.