More than 1.30 crore vehicles in Gujarat are still without the mandatory High Security Registration Plate (HSRP), even as the state government has extended the deadline for installing one by a month.
This is the sixth time the deadline for fitting HSRP in vehicles has been extended. The original deadline was January 5, which was extended until February 15, and then until March 31. The deadline was later revised to April 30, but was extended again till July 31 in view of a large number of vehicles still sans HSRP. “We have extended the deadline for getting high security registration plates fixed in vehicles till August 31,” commissioner of transport RM Jadav, said.
The high security registration plates are required to be installed in all vehicles, old and new, in view of a Supreme Court order of 2013. The state government has gone on an overdrive to comply with the SC ruling, but the pace of HSRP installation is much slower than one would like.
Jadav said that out of 2.40 crore registered vehicles in the state, HSRPs have been fitted in 1.10 crore vehicles so far. This means that as many as 1.30 crore, ie nearly 54% of the total vehicles, are still without the mandatory new registration plates. An estimated 12 lakh HSRPs are being installed in vehicles every month, and that they would increase the number to cover all vehicles at the earliest.
However, at this rate, it would take almost a year to ensure HSRPs in all remaining 1.30 crore vehicles. In addition to all RTOs, the work for installing HSRPs is being undertaken at more than 700 automobile dealers, who were accorded status of deemed RTO for the same by the state government.
