Safety measures: Over 60K commercial vehicles install tracking devices

Kolkata: The pace of retrofitting Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) and installation of panic buttons in commercial vehicles of the state have increased substantially in the past few months.

More than 60,000 commercial vehicles have been retro-fitted with the device till date, a senior Transport official said.

The state Transport department aims to fit the devices in 70 per cent of the required commercial vehicles which is 2.8 lakh by March 2024. A source in the Transport department stated that by mid-2024, they will be able to cover all the commercial vehicles.

While the VLTD installation in private commercial vehicles quickened pace, the same in government buses has slowed because of the tendering process.

Out of 2,000 government buses running in the state, around 400 buses have been fitted with VLTD till now. “The process is now speeding up,” the official said.

Initially, the commercial vehicle owners were reluctant to install the device and cited that the device and installation price were high.

At the time, empanelled manufacturers were few. However, the the number of manufacturers has increased to 26 and the price of the device as well as the installation decreased from the range of Rs 13,000 to Rs. 7,000.

Moreover, the department issued a notice stating that from June 1, all commercial vehicle owners, who had not given a declaration, will have to fit VLTD and panic buttons before their Certificate of Fitness (CF) date. If they fail to do so, then those vehicles will be declared “unfit” and CF will not be granted.

“Gradually, the number of commercial vehicles increased, as for CF we get around 500 vehicles daily across the state,” the source stated.

The department had earlier issued a deadline for the instalment of the device till May 31.

Before that, the deadline had been extended twice on the demands of the commercial vehicle owners.