Chennai: Even though the number of vehicles in the state has grown exponentially, the state transport authority, that is supposed to look into various enforcement-related issues, has a staff crunch.
This has severely handicapped the department, affecting its basic functions of checking vehicles violating permits and registration. Issues such as registering vehicles in other states, using a fictitious address to pay less road tax and violation of permits by buses are a few that go almost unchecked.
Omnibus owners say that in spite of several leads being given to the officials to get hold of vehicles violating permits, nothing much has moved in the past few years. Often, the reason given for this is lack of staff strength. Each RTO office has from two to six motor vehicle inspectors which, according to their own admission, has not kept pace with the growing number of vehicles. The number of motor vehicle inspectors (grade-1) grew from 190 to 210 between 2011 and 2014 for the state and for grade-2 from 143 to 148. There were 83 lakh new vehicles registered in the state between 2001 to 2011, and in the past two years, another 18 lakh were added.
Top officials with the department say, "There is a need for more manpower. A motor vehicle inspector has to do licensing work, which involves checking nearly 40 riders a day, and then giving fitness certificates to transport vehicles and then go on mobile duty." A motor vehicle inspector adds, "It is only once we finish our work in the office that we go for checks on the roads." Mr A. Pandian, treasurer of the All India Omni Bus Owners Association, says, "We pay almost Rs 1 lakh every three months to renew permit for a multi-axle bus, but many a time, there are owners who take college permits at a cost of Rs 3,000 and ply the buses as tourist vehicles."
He adds, "Unless the enforcers implement the laws stringently, it will be a loss to us and the state exchequer." Mr M.S. Srinivas, vice-president of the Automobile Association of South India, says, "With the growth of city limits and the absence of proper public transportation to the city, people depend on private vehicles, leading to this high growth in traffic density. It is unfortunate that a small investment, by including more enforcers, is being overlooked. Outside city limits, it is the RTOs who will be enforcing rules. Therefore, it's imperative that they are in sufficient numbers. As for now, what I see is overloaded trucks and juveniles riding vehicles."
