Autorickshaws to get ‘inclusive’ window at RTOs from Oct 15

Services specific to the vehicles to be available after 2 p.m.

From next month, Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) will have separate shifts to provide benefits of their transformation into e-RTOs to not just private vehicle drivers but to owners and operators of autorickshaws too.

Following Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s directions to decentralise and shift core services such as renewal of registration and fitness permits of autos from the Burari authority, the Transport Department will allow the provision of these services at each of its 13 facilities beginning October 15.

“A meeting in this regard was held at the department’s HQ on Underhill Road on Tuesday. Starting October 15, from 2 p.m., provision of these services to the owners and operators of autorickshaws will be available at their respective zonal offices,” said a government source.

The proposal, which was supposed to have been readied by the end of July following which it remained pending with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot’s office for almost two months, has finally been given the nod, government sources said.

‘In sync with e-RTOs plan’

A senior government official said the proposal will work in sync with the department’s plan to stop accepting manual or paper applications for drivers’ licenses and other related services beginning October 1.

The move towards ‘e-RTOs’ is aimed at curbing possible avenues for corruption by targeting zero or minimal queues and crowds at RTOs by bringing them exclusively online.

While the facilities will be available to applicants from opening time till 2 p.m., services related to autorickshaws will be offered after that.

Mr. Kejriwal had ordered the department to formulate a proposal to decentralise core services from Burari after he visited the facility on July 17 and received complaints of long queues and presence of touts.

The CM, who was accompanied by Mr. Gahlot and Transport Commissioner Varsha Joshi, also interacted with owners of autorickshaws and other commercial vehicles. The officers had been directed to decentralise the work and open vehicle fitness test centres across the Capital “by next month”, that is August.