1,000 TSR permits under lens

NEW DELHI: Just months after the transport department started issuing new permits for autorickshaws, data of 1,000 permits for GPS installation has come under the scanner. "During verification, information given for 1,000 permits has been found inaccurate. We are further investigating the matter. If the information given is wrong, the permits will be cancelled," transport minister Ramakant Goswami said.Around 12,000 new three-wheeler scooter rickshaw permits were issued since August last year.
According to officials in the transport department, the matter came to light when the telecom company providing the GPS connectivity cross-checked the contact information given by the autorickshaw permit holders. The GPS-based meter being used in the new autorickshaws has a SIM card inserted that tracks the chip. This SIM is provided by the telecom provider.
According to a senior official, "Like a regular cell phone connection wherein the address and other information is verified by the telecom provider, the GPS devices were also given in the name of the permit holder. In some cases, the information given was found to be wrong upon verification." According to Goswami, the transport department will cancel the permit of any vehicle found to have been issued on false information.
The department is also in talks with the Delhi police to connect the panic button with the police control room. "The panic button is currently connected to the operational control centre at DIMTS. We want that the information should be available with Delhi police so that when the panic button is pressed, the information automatically gets forwarded to the police," Goswami said. At the moment, this information is not shared with Delhi police which has no access to the OCC at Kashmere Gate maintained by DIMTS. Interestingly, the panic button was set up before the December 16 incident and the Delhi government has been advertising the feature as one its women-safe measures adopted recently.
To augment public transport, the department is also planning to induct 300 new cluster buses by the first week of March, said the minister. "There are around 400 cluster buses operating at the moment. We will add to this by March so that the number goes up to 700," Goswami said. The cluster service was supposed to have 1,000 buses in operation by 2012, a target that was missed dismally. The department is also in talks with DDA to acquire land for depots for the cluster buses. The reason why buses have not been added to this fleet, say transport department officials, is the lack of depot space to park the buses during off-duty hours.