Backlog of vehicles seized, abandoned by RTO impacts MSRTC ops

The issue of such vehicles came into sharp focus following the rape of a young woman inside a derelict bus at Swargate ST stand earlier this year which raised questions about the presence of such broken-down vehicles in public areas.

PUNE: Delay on the part of the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) in scrapping or auctioning seized vehicles has become a major concern for the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) as nearly 300 private vehicles (confiscated by the RTO) continue to occupy valuable space at MSRTC depots/stands across the region. Despite multiple rounds of official correspondence between the transport body and the RTO, no conclusive action has been taken yet, leaving the impounded vehicles gathering dust at ST stations/stands for months on end.

The issue of such vehicles came into sharp focus following the rape of a young woman inside a derelict bus at Swargate ST stand earlier this year which raised questions about the presence of such broken-down vehicles in public areas. (HT)

The issue of such vehicles came into sharp focus following the rape of a young woman inside a derelict bus at Swargate ST stand earlier this year which raised questions about the presence of such broken-down vehicles in public areas. At the time, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik directed that such vehicles be scrapped immediately.

During the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislature, Sarnaik, while responding to a related question, confirmed that the scrapping process has begun however the actual removal of such vehicles from bus stations has been delayed due to court cases and legal bottlenecks.

As per the information shared by the MSRTC, these vehicles are seized for reasons such as overloading of passengers or goods, traffic violations, or involvement in accidents. Due to the lack of adequate space at RTO premises, these impounded vehicles are kept temporarily at MSRTC bus depots. Once the vehicle owners pay the required penalties, the vehicles are released. In case of vehicles involved in court cases, they remain parked till legal clearance is obtained. This has led to a steady increase in the number of such vehicles over time. In most cases, the RTO issues 90-day notices to the vehicle owners but in vain. The RTO has clarified that if vehicle owners do not respond within the stipulated time, the vehicles will be auctioned or scrapped.

According to officials, many of these seized vehicles are either heavily damaged or carry hefty fines, discouraging owners from reclaiming them. Additionally, several vehicles are too old to be of any further use which leads owners to deliberately avoid completing the penalty process. “During action, we often seize vehicles that are either beyond repair or carry huge penalty amounts. Owners tend to ignore notices and show no interest in retrieving these vehicles,” said an official from the RTO.

According to data shared by the MSRTC Pune division, the Baramati depot currently houses the highest number of such abandoned vehicles (107), followed by Saswad (38), Dapodi divisional workshop (30) and Indapur station (30), Daund (26), Rajgurunagar (19), Shirur (17), and the remaining at various other depots totalling 293 vehicles (passenger buses, goods trucks and cargo vehicles).

Due to lack of space at the RTO yards, locally seized vehicles are often parked in nearby MSRTC premises instead of on public roads. However, the legal procedures continue to delay their disposal. Swapnil Bhosale, deputy regional transport officer, Pune, said, “Final notices have been issued to vehicle owners, asking them to pay penalties and retrieve their vehicles. If they fail to do so within the given period, the vehicles will be auctioned.”