1,500 gramin sewa vans plying without permit: Transport dept
NEWDELHI: Over 1,500 gramin sewa vehicles are plying on the city’s roads without permits, the Delhi government’s transport department data shows.
Gramin sewas are shared public service vehicles which provide cheap last mile connectivity to commuters across the national capital.
In a special drive initiated by the enforcement wing of the department, 302 gramin sewas — the white eight-seater wagons carrying passengers — have been impounded for plying without permits.
The government’s transport department had recently set up a 24x7 operation control centre to ensure effective enforcement action against passenger service vehicles such as auto rickshaws, gramin sewas, taxis, feeders and public buses.
The data procured by the control centre showed that out of the 5,026 gramin sewas running in the city only 3,476 had proper permits and the mandatory GPS services installed in them.
“We had started the drive on Tuesday and have managed to impound over 300 gramin sewas so far. The drive will continue till Saturday,” a senior official of the enforcement unit said.
On the first day of the drive, 81 vehicles were impounded, on Wednesday 121, and on Thursday till 6pm 100 such vehicles were taken off the roads for operating without licences and not following passenger safety norms.
In an attempt to bring these last mile services under the ambit of law, the transport department has been sending SMS alerts and written reminders to the owners of these passenger service vehicles, warning them to get their permits in place. A month’s time was given to the owners, starting March 1, before action was initiated.
Officials said that they had started their drive by installing GPS services in around 15 per cent gramin sewas, but now over 50 per cent of these registered vehicles have the services installed in them.
In this first phase eco-friendly vehicles, Mexican state carriages, phat-phat sewas and gramin sewas were targeted. In subsequent phases of the drive, school vans and cabs, buses — including DTC, cluster and school buses — auto rickshaws found violating norms will be fined or impounded as per the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act (1988).
We had started the drive against illegal vehicles on Tuesday and have managed to impound over 300 gramin sewas so far. The drive will continue till Saturday. A SENIOR OFFICIAL,
Enforcement unit, transport department, Delhi government