BHUBANESWAR: To prevent re-registration of old commercial vehicles from other states in Odisha, the government on Monday issued an order restricting entry and operation of such vehicles that are over 10 years old and registered outside the state.
The move assumes significance in view of the prohibition imposed in Delhi/NCR over plying of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years due to pollution concerns. Sources said such ban outside Odisha has increased the risk of older vehicles getting re-registered in the state.
State Transport Authority (STA) officials said the decision to impose restriction on entry and operation of these vehicles had already been taken in one of their meetings held on July 19, 2023. However, some regional transport offices (RTOs) were not implementing the ban despite detection of similar cases.
Accordingly, a fresh directive was issue as per the direction of Commerce and Transport minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena to improve state’s transport system and strengthen passenger safety.
As per the STA order, restrictions will be imposed on entry and operation of commercial vehicles in Odisha that are registered in other states and more than 10 years old. No new permits will be issued to such vehicles to operate in the state.
The RTOs have also been directed not to allow change of address, transfer of ownership or collection of any transport tax for such vehicles. STA officials said the RTOs and ARTOs have been instructed to strictly enforce the ban. The step is expected to improve road safety standards, reduce unfit vehicles on roads and lower pollution caused by old vehicles in the state.
The state government is also phasing out vehicles older than 15 years, including commercial and private vehicles, that are failing fitness tests as per the provisions of Odisha Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility Policy-2022.
Thousands of such vehicles have already been scrapped, while more such vehicles are being identified to be discarded at authorised scrapping centres, officials said.