Private centre to certify fitness of all commercial vehicles, RTO certification no longer valid

Fitness tests for passenger vehicles will henceforth be considered valid only if they are conducted at private fitness centres, instead of RTOs

According to a new directive from the central government, from April 1, fitness tests conducted at any RTO for commercial vehicles,  including heavy and medium goods vehicles, heavy and medium passenger vehicles, and light motor vehicles (LMVs), will no longer be considered valid. These vehicles must now undergo fitness tests exclusively at private Automated Testing Stations (ATS), and only certificates from these private centres will be accepted.

As per the circular issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, from April 1, RTOs have been excluded from the task of checking and issuing fitness certificates for goods and passenger vehicles. 

This responsibility has now been entirely handed over to private ATS centres. 

While some suggest that the move aims to break the nexus between RTO officers and agents, critics argue that this change simply replaces one form of corruption with another, giving private players a new opportunity to profit.

The central government had already decided two years ago that all vehicle fitness certifications would be handled only through private ATS. 

This plan to gradually phase out RTOs has now come into full effect as of April 1. As per the norms, all commercial vehicles including luxury buses, school buses, trucks, ambulances, and taxis must undergo fitness tests every two years for the first eight years, and annually thereafter. 

Previously, this process involved paying a fixed fee at the RTO and receiving a certificate. Now, state governments have granted private ATS centres the authority to charge between ₹800 and ₹2,000 for these certifications.

Interestingly, out of the 53 ATS centres in the state, more than 20 have already been found to have irregularities.

Under the pretext of reducing the workload of RTO offices, the government has outsourced fitness testing and certification to private ATS centres.

Investigations were conducted by 10 expert committees, where investigators uncovered irregularities in nearly 24 ATS centres. In one case, it was found that the testing systems were tampered with to issue fitness certificates to unfit vehicles in exchange for money. 

Rather than taking action against these centres, the government has now given them even more responsibility.