YOUR WAIT FOR HIGH SECURITY NUMBER PLATE GETS LONGER

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has put on hold the ₹1,400-crore tender for fitting of high-security registration plates (HSRP) on to vehicles, and the appointment of smart card driving licence service provider, as the Centre has revised the rules for HSRP and is in process of changing the rules for smart card driving licences.

The HSRP, which comes with unique security features, will help curb vehicle thefts.

“We have put the tendering process on hold for now. While we have sought legal opinion on the HSRP tender, we are waiting for the Centre to finalise rules on the smart card driving licences,” said Shekhar Channe, commissioner of state transport.

In April 2018, the Centre had issued tenders for fitting HSRP on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis, to around three crore existing and 1 crore new vehicles, in the next 10 years.

In the same month, the state invited another tender to depute a new service provider for issuing a driving licence in the form of a smart card, at 50 RTOS.

A senior official from the transport department said, while revising the rule for HSRP, the Centre put the onus of fitting these number plates on new vehicle manufacturers or dealers.

“Once the Centre issues a final notification about the smart card driving licence, we will start the tendering process,” he said.