The central government has taken a big step to control the old vehicles in the country. Earlier, it had already increased the renewal fees for vehicles older than 20 years, Now, it has also raised the fitness test charges by a large amount. with this new rule, running old vehicles will become much more expensive than before. the main aim of this decision is to reduce the pollution and remove unsafe and weak vehicles from the roads. This move is expected to improve the road safety and protect the environment. however, it has also caught the attention of millions of vehicle owners who will now have to spend more to keep their old vehicles running.
Notice by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
The Ministry of Road Transport and highways MoRTH has issued a new notification for vehicle fitness tests. Under the new rules, vehicles have been divided into thee age groups-1 to 15 years , 25-20 years and above 20 years. The biggest change is for commercial vehicles. Earlier, higher fitness test fees were charged only after 15 years, But now this will apply once a vehicle completes 10 years. This means many more vehicles will come under the higher fee bracket. As a result, owners of older commercial vehicles will have to pay more to keep their vehicles on the road, making it costlier to run ageing vehicles under the new system.
For light motor vehicles LMVs, which include cars and small four wheelers, the government has increased the fitness test fee for vehicles older then 20 years. the charge has been raised from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.15,000. According to the government, such old vehicles usually fail to meet modern safety and pollution standards. they are more likely to cause accidents and add to air pollution. By increasing the fee, the government wants to discourage the people from using the very old vehicles and push them towards safer and cleaner options. this move is part of a larger plan to remove unsafe and pollution overall road safety and environment quality.
The biggest impact of the new fitness fee hike has been on heavy and medium commercial vehicles. for heavy trucks and buses that are more than 20 years old, the fee has been sharply increased from Rs.3,500 to Rs.25,000. Medium commercial vehicles will now have to pay Rs.20,000 while light commercial vehicles Will be charged Rs.15,000. this step rise is part of the government’s plan to slowly remove old and highly Pollution cargo vehicles and buses from the roads. By making it expensive to keep these ageing vehicles running, the government aims to reduce the air pollution and improve the road safety across the country.
