Any permit not renewed within six months of expiry will be deemed cancelled: Transport dept

Kolkata: Taking a strong stance against the growing practice of transport permit holders failing to renew their permits for extended periods — sometimes even years — the state Transport department has issued a notification mandating that any permit not renewed within six months of expiry will be deemed cancelled under provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

According to a notification issued by Transport secretary Saumitra Mohan, such permit holders will be given an opportunity to be heard. However, failure to attend the hearing or submit necessary documents and fees will result in automatic cancellation. The corresponding route will then be declared vacant and opened for fresh applications.

Officials stated that the entire cancellation process, including hearing and vacancy notification, must be completed within a year of the permit’s expiry. Simultaneously, the department is undertaking full digitisation of all transport permits. Vehicle owners with undigitised permits must submit a photocopy along with the original Part-A of the permit during any tax or transaction-related visit. The registering authority is required to verify the documents and complete the backlog entry within 96 hours. A scanned copy of the permit must also be uploaded immediately to the VAHAN portal. To support this drive, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been asked to upgrade the VAHAN portal with a feature that displays a pop-up notification during online tax payment, advising vehicle owners to visit the permit-issuing office if their permit details are missing from the database.

The department has also mandated that all new applications for stage carriage and auto-rickshaw permits be submitted online. Applications will be accepted only after a mandatory seven-day waiting period from the date of vacancy notification. To ensure fairness, permits will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis, with the timestamp determined by when the application fee is paid. Offer Letters issued to successful applicants will remain valid for a maximum of 180 days. However, under the ‘per mensem’ fee system, an Offer Letter will be valid only for the period paid for. No renewals will be allowed after expiry and fresh applications will be required.

To prevent misuse of newly acquired routes, the department has also barred any route extension or variation within one year of a new permit’s issue or a previous modification.

Additionally, all goods, contract and stage carriage vehicles registered in the state must have a base permit linked to their local registration area. Without this, tax tokens and Certificates of Fitness will not be renewed. The process for vehicle replacement under a permit has also been formalised. Permit holders must file an affidavit stating whether the old vehicle was scrapped, sold within the state, or transferred. If sold locally, the intending buyer must submit a valid Offer Letter or Replacement Order issued by the competent authority to accommodate the replaced vehicle.

Welcoming the reforms, Rahul Chatterjee, general secretary of the All Bengal Bus Minibus Samannay Samity, said: “This was much needed. We don’t even know how many permits exist in the state. Digitisation will bring clarity. Also, if someone doesn’t renew their permit, the department will cancel it and declare the route vacant, giving opportunities to newcomers.”