Fitness certificates: Cancellation of 5,000 fitness certificates from automated testing stations in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: The state transport department has finally acted and canceled the fitness certificates issued to around 5,000 commercial vehicles by the state’s automated testing stations. In January, the state transport department issued show cause notices to 16 automated testing stations after discovering that doctored images of vehicles had been used to certify their suitability. The ministry found irregularities and all but one of the automated testing stations faced license suspension. Three centers having used retouched images risk being the subject of complaints to the police. However, no police complaint has been registered so far. The ministry, after reviewing the tests conducted by these 15 centers, has so far canceled the fitness certificates of around 5,000 vehicles. These vehicles will have to undergo fitness tests again. An anonymous complaint had led to an investigation, which revealed that many vehicles from Rajasthan had been issued fitness certificates in the state. Analysis of CCTV footage and FasTag records from toll plazas showed that many of these vehicles had never even entered the state. Some were in other states when the certificates were issued here. Gujarat, which tested 39,390 vehicles, declared 35,319 fit. Gujarat is second only to Chhattisgarh, which has tested 55,112 vehicles so far. However, in terms of vehicles declared unfit, Gujarat has the highest number, 4,059, while this number for Chhattisgarh was 1,493. Officials said that on June 11, when testing facilities at RTOs were closed for all commercial vehicles, ministry data revealed that 17,120 vehicles had been tested at automated stations, of which 174 had failed. After June 11, the number of tests performed increased significantly, but refusals also increased several-fold. “After the transportation department captured these 15 centers, the automated testing stations became very cautious. Instead of giving vehicle drivers a chance to remedy the defects, they would present the vehicles as broken. According to data from the Department of Highway Transportation, the state has 60 automated testing stations. There are four in Ahmedabad: two in Bakrol, one on SP Ring Road and one in Aslali.

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