CHENNAI: After a departmental inquiry confirmed that login credentials of transport authorities have been misused on Vahan software for registering banned Bharat Stage (BS)-IV vehicles at several regional transport offices (RTOs) in the state, the transport department has sought police inquiry into the issue.
The Supreme Court’s ban on registration of BS-IV vehicles came into effect on April 1, 2020. An inquiry conducted by Transport Commissioner L Nirmal Raj revealed that several hundreds of BS IV vehicles have been registered between 2020 and 2021 resulting in a loss of several lakhs of rupees towards road tax to the department. However, the total number of vehicles registered in the state is yet to be ascertained, said officials.
Against this backdrop, Additional Chief Secretary of the transport department, K Gopal, recently wrote to DGP C Sylendra Babu seeking an inquiry into the scam by appropriate agency. “Either the CB-CID or economic offences wing of police is likely to be assigned to investigate the matter. DGP order is expected shortly,” said a senior official.
The apex court banned the registration of BS IV vehicles after the emission levels of BS-IV compatible engines did not meet the pollution norms prescribed by the Union government. The scam came to limelight a few months ago when a person tried to sell his SUV registered at South Chennai (West) RTO in Valasaravakkam. The RTO staff had found that the vehicle details were not available on the Vahan software.
Further probe revealed the vehicle’s data was entered into Vahan software through backlog entry using the credentials of the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) and original records including registration, engine and chassis numbers were manipulated.
The scam took place in collusion with the employees of the transport department and contract workers engaged in printing smart registration cards, revealed the inquiry. As many as 315 vehicles, worth `68 crore to Rs 75 crore were found to be registered through backlog entry of which 158 do not have an original data base on Vahan software.
“Second batch of vehicles which were registered through backlog entries on Vahan software being retrieved. The matter is still being looked into. The police investigation can go separately,” said an official.
