Noida & Ghaziabad to have automated vehicle testing stations in a year

NOIDA: The first automated testing stations (ATS) for vehicles in Noida and Ghaziabad are likely to be set up within a year.
The state government, in an order, has said all districts will have such stations for vehicle fitness testing. The number of stations may be increased in the future, officials said.

An ATS uses mechanical equipment to automate the various tests required to check the fitness of a vehicle. Both Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad don't have an ATS at present, and the tests are conducted manually at the district regional transport authority offices. The move is aimed towards making the process more efficient and transparent, and ending manual testing.
Commercial vehicle fitness certificates are valid for the first two years and subsequently renewed for one year. For private vehicles, fitness certificates are valid for 15 years and thereafter renewed every five years. Gautam Budh Nagar has over 8 lakh vehicles and Ghaziabad 9.8 lakh.
The order was issued by L Venkateshwar Lu, the principal secretary (department of transport), on September 2. "Each district will have an automated testing station with two lanes. The station will be spread over two acres of land. The premises will have a separate entry and exit to facilitate smooth work," it stated.
For the tests, people will need to book appointments online. The ATS will be covered with CCTV cameras for transparency. The state government will spend around Rs 500 crore to set up the stations in various districts within a year.
The stations will be developed on the public-private partnership model. In the first phase, only one ATS will be set up in each district.
Gautam Budh Nagar assistant regional transport officer Siyaram Verma said the ATS will improve efficiency and transparency.
"The machine will automatically check vehicles and generate certificates. This will improve transparency and people can't claim otherwise, as human intervention will be minimised. The government has just issued an order and we are yet to receive further details. The Noida Sector 33 office is located on a small plot. So, the testing station is likely to be developed in Surajpur, Greater Noida, where we have identified a suitable plot for the transport department's office," he said.
Vedpal Singh, the president of Noida Transport Sanyukt Morcha, said setting up automatic stations is a good move.
"It takes around one hour to get a vehicle's fitness checks done. The ATS may reduce this time. But officials must ensure that the machines are fully functional and there are no problems like the server going down or power outages, as transporters will suffer," he added.
The Centre has made fitness testing of vehicles through ATS mandatory in a phased manner starting April 2023 for heavy goods vehicles and heavy passenger motor vehicles.
This change in the fitness test regime is part of the government's policy to push the voluntary vehicle scrappage policy to retire unfit vehicles.
Currently, the vehicle owners can get fitness tests done either at any automated or manual testing centre. There is a high scope ddof the test results getting manipulated in the manual system.