Gujarat: Sensors at driving test tracks in 7 RTOs damaged or faulty: CAG

Ahmedabad: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has pointed out that electronic sensors installed at automated driving test tracks (ADTTs) in seven Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in the state were either damaged or inoperable. Also, none of the RTOs in the state had ADTTs for heavy motor vehicles.In its report tabled in the assembly, the CAG stated, "The availability of a well-designed and maintained testing track is a prerequisite for administering proper driving tests. An ADTT is a fully computerized driving test track equipped with electronic sensors to measure a driver's skill and to record their movements during the test."The CAG said that in March 2024, 22 ADTTs for light motor vehicles (LMVs) and 23 ADTTs for two-wheelers were in operation in 23 RTOs of the state. These ADTTs were being operated by RTO staff. In seven of the nine RTOs and ARTOs, including Ahmedabad and Surat, the sensors at the two-wheeler and LMV test tracks were either damaged or inoperable. So, these ADTTs were being operated by RTO staff. "In the absence of the sensors, whether or not any vehicle had touched the boundaries/barriers while attempting the test, was being monitored manually through visual inspection," the CAG report states. Transport department officials said that the agency's contract to monitor and maintain the sensors had expired, which is why RTO staff were monitoring the ADTTs. The officials said that, with the help of cameras and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system, the duty inspector would monitor ADTTs and fail the candidate if they touched the sensor pole."The only system that functioned properly was the one that tracked the time limit for each stage of the test," the CAG report states.The officer said that at many places, the sensor poles were damaged, and repair work was not taken up since no agency had been assigned the job. The officer said that in Ahmedabad, the failure rate was 15% among two-wheeler riders and 53% among four-wheeler drivers.The officials said that about eight RTOs do not have ADTTs and continue to use the old system for driving tests. Hareet Shukla, principal secretary, ports and transport, says that "By the end of the year, all the test tracks will be AI-monitored." The CAG report stated that RTOs in Sabarkantha, Rajkot, Kheda-Nadiad, Gir-Somnath, and Jamnagar did not have separate rooms or halls with functional systems for displaying tutorial videos. Face-recognition cameras were either not installed or were not in working condition in seven RTOs, excluding Ahmedabad and Vadodara.The report said that when asked, the commissioner of transport in Sept 2025 stated that an agreement was executed in Feb 2025 with a vendor for the modernization of ADTTs using video analytics technology. Further, civil structure work was completed in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, while land acquisition was in progress in Bardoli.