The Odisha Transport Department on Tuesday ordered enforcement authorities to immediately seize any vehicles running on the roads without valid fitness certificates and other mandatory paperwork.
State Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur issued the strict mandate in an official communication sent to all regional transport officers (RTOs), traffic inspectors, and other enforcement personnel on Tuesday.
According to officials, while enforcement squads slapped challans on roughly 1.64 lakh vehicles for various traffic and road safety violations between April 1 and June 30, a mere 428 vehicles were actually confiscated.
Expressing his deep displeasure over the remarkably low number of seizures, Thakur instructed officials to seize any vehicle caught operating without a valid fitness certificate, registration certificate, insurance, route permit, or other legally required documents.
“Enforcement officers have, in a vast majority of instances, limited their response to merely handing out a challan, failing to take the necessary follow-up action of seizing or detaining the vehicle. This approach is highly inadequate and completely undermines the core purpose of road safety enforcement,” Thakur pointed out.
A vehicle caught operating without a valid registration, fitness certificate, permit, or other mandatory legal compliance cannot simply be allowed to go on its way just because a fine was paid or a challan was issued, he emphasized.
While compounding an offense or issuing a challan settles the liability for past negligence, it does not somehow legitimize or authorize the ongoing breach of state transport laws on the road, he added.
The moment a violation is flagged, the non-compliant vehicle must not be permitted to resume its journey in open defiance of statutory provisions. Such vehicles must be impounded on the spot and will only be released once the penalty is paid and authentic documents are produced, the transport commissioner said in his directive.
