CITU district president P Shankar Rao criticized the decision to invite tenders for issuing fitness and break certificates to big companies district wise. He stated that the central government’s directives and the state government’s agreement to increase the fees for fitness certificates will burden motorists with an additional cost of Rs 1000 crores. This is in addition to the already high taxes and penalties imposed on the transport sector. The increase in toll from 700 to 15,000 rupees for the sake of fitness is unfair to the 1.46 crore motorists in the state.
Previously, fitness certificates were not required for two-wheelers, own cars, and other non-transport vehicles. However, now all vehicles, including two-wheelers, will need to obtain fitness certificates. The fees for these certificates range from 800 to 15,000 rupees depending on the type of vehicle. There is concern that private companies may charge much higher fees than those set by the government. The entire process of issuing fitness certificates is being handled by private companies under the guise of automatic testing stations.
Furthermore, the tenders for this process were filed under false names, which goes against the rules and regulations.
