Pune: Over 90% food trucks flout rules, operate without permissions

PUNE: Over 90% of food trucks operating in the city are not registered with the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO), the authorities have said, adding that a drive has now been initiated to check on them.
“At present, just about seven-odd food trucks are registered with us. There are some basic and important norms that operators of such trucks must follow. They need to have permission to operate both from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pune traffic police. Also, food trucks are only allowed to serve food and not prepare it in their vehicles,” Pune’s deputy regional transport officer Sanjiv Bhor told TOI.
“Rough estimates indicate that there are around 150-200 such trucks around town. We are not aware of the exact number. Our drive aims to identify them and check if they are following norms. More importantly, we also want to know whether they are aware of the rules,” an RTO official said. Officials at the RTO said that they provide registration to these vehicles as food trucks only after clearance from the PMC and traffic police.
“As per norms, they need to be registered as commercial vehicles and food trucks. A private truck cannot be changed into and operated as a food truck. For safety reasons, cooking is prohibited in the vehicles as LPG cylinders need to be used and there is always a risk involved with these.
The trucks need to be stationed at spots that don’t disturb moving traffic, which is why approval from the traffic police is necessary. If they have completed all the above processes, the RTO provides them with approval,” the official pointed out.