Home fitments of HSRPs a hassle and people face delays in Pune

Pune: Dhayari resident Rahul Kumar booked an appointment on Feb 16 for home fitment of a high-security registration plate (HSRP). The appointment date of March 28 has long passed, and Kumar is still waiting for the registration plate.Kumar is one of many residents who opted for home fitment and are waiting for their HSRP as the June 30 deadline looms near."Why did they confirm the appointment for March 28 then? I have not received any response from the fitment centre. I called customer care multiple times, but they just responded by saying my complaint had been escalated. However, there has been no action on it," Kumar, a working professional, told TOI.Sumit Talje, a Mohammadwadi resident, faced a similar issue. He booked a home fitment appointment for his two-wheelers in mid-Feb. "My fitment appointment date was March 23, but no one has come to install the new plates yet. I paid Rs1,356 for both two-wheelers. I am beginning to doubt whether they will come or not. I will visit the Pune RTO office next week for a resolution," he said.Even with the deadline for getting an HSRP for vehicles registered before April 2019 extended to June 30, the hassles for those trying to get the same haven't ended. Delays in home fitments are frustrating people, in addition to the fear of the website (mhhsrp.com) being fake, resulting in them losing money. Also, for people living in the rural areas of Pune, getting an HSRP is a major problem due to the lack of fitment centres nearby.As many as 2,528,589 vehicles in Pune are eligible for HSRPs, but only 87,396 fitments have been done till April 9. A total of 3,41,589 people have taken appointments."At this pace, how will all vehicles get new plates by June 30? In addition, people are facing teething problems, which is delaying things further," Anshul Raj, whose home fitment appointment attempt failed multiple times, said.Pune's regional transport officer (RTO), Archana Gaikwad, told TOI that the transport authority would talk to Rosemerta Safety Systems Limited, the agency handling the operations, about delays in home fitments. "All other issues will also be looked into, as well," the official said.While an official statement from Rosemerta was awaited, a senior official of the company said there have been communication problems as many people were under the impression that home delivery meant that the HSRP would be delivered to their homes and not fitted, which isn't the case."Many times, our representatives have gone to the house to find that the vehicle wasn't there. We have rectified this. There have been issues from our side, too, like when our representative went to the house and the customer asked him to wait. He then proceeded to the next job and did not return. We are taking care of these issues," the official told TOI.People said there need to be more alternatives to install HSRPs. "The transport department needs to find more ways, or else the deadline will never be met," Nishant Kadam, a Baner resident, said.

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