BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government has decided to make panic button and vehicle location tracking (VLT) device mandatory in all commercial and passenger vehicles plying in the State from next year.The decision has been taken in pursuance of the direction issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2018 to ensure medical care reaches faster to the vehicles meeting an accident.
As per a notification by the Commerce and Transport department, the vehicles registered on or after January 1, 2023 will have to comply with VLT and panic button at the time of registration and the vehicles registered on or before December 31, 2022 will have to comply by March 31, 2023.
Except three-wheeler, all commercial and passenger vehicles, including both government and private buses, school and college buses and cabs/taxis will be equipped with VLT and panic buttons for the safety of women and children.While passengers travelling alone will be content to know that their vehicle is being tracked and there is a panic button to rely on in case a situation goes haywire, the system will also help the drivers of the public utility vehicles.
Transport department officials said fitment of VLT and panic buttons will be mandatory for all commercial vehicles and private vehicles can install the gadgets if they want. Joint Commissioner (Technical) of State Transport Authority Dipti Ranjan Patra said all commercial vehicle owners will have to install the VLT while the passenger vehicles will have to be equipped with both VLT and panic buttons.
The gadgets designed to ensure the safety and security of travellers will respond to emergencies and medical needs, along with curbing speeding. The devices will be tracked from the command and control room to be set up at Bhubaneswar.
Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu said in case of emergencies, travellers will not have to call anyone. Once the driver of a vehicle or any traveller presses the panic button, the vehicle’s location will be directly transmitted to the emergency response team, which can easily track the vehicle and come to rescue, she said.