BENGALURU: After vehicle owners complained that the vehicle location tracking device and panic buttons are being sold by empanelled vendors at exorbitant prices, the transport department has fixed prices for these devices.
The rate revision comes after TNIE last year highlighted the problems faced by vehicle owners in its report -- ‘Vehicle owners against mandatory fitting of panic buttons’. Vehicle owners had complained that empanelled vendors were charging Rs 18,000 to fix the VLTD in a bus, while the market rate was around Rs 4,000.
“The transport department convened a price negotiation meeting recently and fixed the price of one VLTD device at Rs 5,424, each emergency button at Rs 325 and the network connectivity and maintenance charges for one year at Rs 1,800. The number of panic buttons to be fixed in each type of vehicle varies based on the number of seats. A motor cab with five seats should have a minimum of three panic buttons, while a passenger bus with 21 seats must have seven buttons,” said a transport department official.
After the Nirbhaya incident in New Delhi, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) mandated setting up of location tracker devices and panic buttons in public service vehicles like buses, cabs (including the ones run by aggregators), maxi cabs and all goods vehicles with national permits. The transport department has fixed the prices for 12 empanelled vendors in the state. The prices are exclusive of all applicable taxes, the official said.
As per data available, over six lakh public service vehicles in Karnataka have installed VLTD. Fitness certificates will not be renewed for vehicles that do not affix VLTD and panic buttons, the official said.