Centre seeks check posts' closure, Telangana in no mood to do so

Hyderabad: Even as the Centre sought the status report on the closure of RTA check posts at State borders, the Telangana government is in no hurry to respond and considering continuing these check posts for revenues.

The Centre had sought the status report on the closure of RTA border check posts from 13 States in September this year. The Centre believed since the GST was in place there was no need for the transport check posts at the borders. However, there were complaints including from transport body All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) that the check posts still existed at the borders of different States. Some unions alleged that these check posts were nothing but places for munching money with corrupt staff.

Check posts were set up so that RTA authorities will book cases against lorries with overload and against private buses, which operate more than one bus with single permit. But minimum cases are being registered as the unions allege that the mafia was hand in glove with the officials. Sources said that the State government is in no mood to remove these posts at this juncture and would wait for other major States to follow.

During September, the Centre had sought status reports from the States like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Kerala, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Telangana Auto and Motor Welfare Union general secretary M Dayanand said that the RTA check posts are total failure. They are not checking the vehicles properly. At some places the transport vehicles move for months with a single invoice and there is no one to look for fitness and permits etc, said Dayanand.

Before the formation of Telangana, the ACB used to do surprise checks and raids but now they are not even writing cases, he alleged and demanded that the government should remove these check posts with immediate effect.

According to sources, the duty at check posts is most sought after in the transport department as many want to get stationed here given the vehicular moment. There are about 14 check posts in Telangana and each check post has two to three Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs) and six to nine AMVIs.

Transport Department Technical Officers Association president T Ravinder Kumar Goud said that the State government should take the decision whether to continue or remove the check posts. However, he said, many States have not yet removed check posts except smaller States like Chhattisgarh.