NEW DELHI: Due to insufficient number of ‘Automated Test Stations’ (ATS), the government may have to extend the deadline for mandatory fitness testing of all heavy commercial vehicles. Currently, there are less than 20 centers across the country.
In a notification earlier this year, the government had set April 2023 as the deadline for implementation of the regulation.
The provision of ATS is crucial to implement the government’s policy of scrapping vehicles over 15 years old.
While the current fitness test system is manual and can handle the results, there is no such intention when the new rule of mandatory testing in the ATS comes into force.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport on April 5, 2022, all private and other medium and small commercial vehicles should be given a mandatory test on ATS by June 2024.
Currently, vehicle owners can get the test done at any automated or manual testing center. “The rules can only be enforced if there are enough centers across the country. If there is no ATS in a district or a district or two, people cannot be expected to comply. However, the government still has 4-5 months to go ahead with the states to speed up the setting up of such centres,” a government source said.
As per the government notification, renewal of fitness certificates is mandatory for all commercial vehicles, every two years for vehicles up to eight years old and every year for those above eight years old. For private vehicles, fitness test is conducted at the time of renewal of registration after 15 years. Later, it is made mandatory every five years.
