From today, high-security number plates a must for new vehicles

From Friday, all the new vehicles in the city will have to be affixed with the High-Security Registration Number Plates (HSRP) with the UT Administration on Thursday finally implementing the much-awaited facility at the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) office in Sector 17.

UT Home Secretary Anil Kumar inaugurated the facility, and the first HSRP was affixed to the SUV Fortuner belonging to former mayor and Congress councilor Raj Bala Malik.

Also, going by the claims of the UT administration, the rates of the HSRP number plates are the lowest in the region and the cheapest in the Tricity.

However, the RLA is yet to decide on when to implement HSRP for the existing vehicles in the city. This is despite the fact that they have already set a two-year deadline starting from March 2013 for all the old vehicles in the city to get the HSRP affixed.

Officials in RLA say that they are yet to work out the modalities for the old vehicles and have not decided on a date for these yet.

Says Mahavir Kaushik, SDM-cum-Registering and Licensing Authority, "We are yet to work out the details for the old vehicles. Maybe in next two months or so, we will be able to start HSRP for old vehicles. As of now, the priority is to streamline the facility for the new vehicles."

However, with the city already having close to 7.5 lakh vehicles registered with an annual increase of 45,000 new vehicles, it will be a tough task for the lone vendor in the city who has been entrusted with the responsibility of affixing HSRP in the city.

As per the tender allotted to the vendor, there is a two-year deadline for all the old vehicles in the city to have HSRP.

Interestingly, the UT administration will get 5 per cent for every HSRP affixed to a vehicle as per the tender clauses.

... contd.

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