Odisha Govt May Go Slow On HSRP Enforcement

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has directed State Transport Authority (STA) to ensure that people face no harassment while getting their high-security registration plate (HSRP) fixed.  It has been asked to assess the number of old vehicles, and the capacity of HSRP manufacturers and accordingly re-fix the timeline for affixation of the number plate.

Vehicle owners in the state have been facing problems with online registration and are unable to get slots within the scheduled time despite the deadlines for the same being extended by a month. People in rural areas are also facing problems as online booking systems and fixation centres are not available easily.

The Transport Commissioner, therefore, has been tasked to get the database of old vehicles, the capacity of manufacturers to prepare and affix HSRP in a day and calculate the time required to affix HSRP in all such vehicles, a TNIE report said.

Also Read: After Deadline Extension, Odisha Transport Dept Steps Up Measures To Strengthen HSRP Infra

According to earlier STA’s estimate, around 50 lakh vehicles registered prior to April 1, 2019, are still on the roads. Between June 1 and September 30, over 23 lakh vehicle owners applied for HSRP and around nine lakh have already affixed HSRP during the period.

Notably, the Orissa High Court had earlier rapped STA, questioning the rationale behind fixing deadlines without a proper infrastructure in place and decided to monitor the HSRP fitment against online booking by vehicle owners after the latter issued a notification with extended deadlines.

On September 15, the STA announced that fines would be collected from the people, who have not fixed HSRP on their vehicles with registration numbers ending with 1, 2, 3 and 4 from October 1.

As Odisha witnessed a sudden rise in online booking for HSRP fitment, the transport authority on September 26 decided to exempt people, who have applied for HSRP online before the deadline but are yet to get it fitted, from enforcement checking and the penalty and later extended the timeline for all vehicles by a month.