In order to further support its latest SMS initiative, the Road Transport Authority (RTA) has linked its database with all major vehicle insurance companies in the State.
Apart from helping its field staff to obtain data easily during inspections, the link-up will also help the companies weed out fake insurance cards of vehicles, which are found during inspections some times, said RTA officials. The project was completed a month ago, and is also being used to send updates and reminders to citizens about their insurance policies/renewals, said an official.
“The insurance policy of a vehicle is linked to road safety of a vehicle owner and the driver as well. We have updated information from all the major 10 or so insurance companies for their and our benefit as well,” said B. Venkateswarulu, Joint Commissioner, RTA. He further mentioned that sharing information will also benefit the RTA’s field staff to cross check with a company’s data.
A senior official from the RTA explained that often during inspections, fake insurance policies are found, and that it takes time to cross-check data with insurance companies when their officers are doubtful. “Now they can simply send a message to the server and they will get the relevant information. Likewise, it will also help us make the RTA people-friendly by sending out insurance renewal reminders to vehicle owners,” he said.
Mobile appThe Telangana State government is taking e-governance very seriously, and hence is planning to soon come up with a new mobile app for the RTA department, said the official. “Our main emphasis is road safety, and e-governance is the word of the day. This is part of our new mobile service for citizens,” he added.
