Govt hikes fitness test fee for over 20-year-old motor vehicles
_vb_75.jpeg)
New Delhi (PTI): Months after the government increased renewal charges for older vehicles, the transport ministry has raised the fitness test fee for motor vehicles older than 20 years to discourage people from keeping them.
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), in a latest notification issued on November 11, has said the higher fee slabs now begin from 10 years for commercial vehicles instead of 15 years, bringing more vehicles under the updated cost brackets.
It has created three clear age groups for fitness testing: 10-15 years, 15-20 years and above 20 years.
According to the notification, the renewal fee for light motor vehicles (LMVs) older than 20 years has been increased to Rs 15,000 from Rs 10,000.
The notification has made steep revisions to the fitness test fee for heavy trucks and buses older than 20 years. They will now have to pay Rs 25,000 for the fitness test, from Rs 3,500 earlier.
Medium commercial vehicles in the same age group will now have to pay Rs 20,000, and the fitness test of light motor vehicles above 20 years will cost Rs 15,000.
The fitness test fee for two-wheelers above 20 years has also been increased to Rs 2,000 from Rs 600 earlier.
The transport ministry, in its earlier notification in August this year, increased renewal charges for older vehicles.
In August, the Supreme Court ordered authorities not to take coercive action against the owners of diesel vehicles that are more than 10 years old and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in the Delhi-NCR.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Snowfall blocks two key roads providing alternative connectivity to Kashmir
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): Traffic on the Mughal and Sinthan Top roads, which provide alternate connectivity to Kashmir, was temporarily suspended on Sunday due to light to moderate snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
However, traffic on the 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway -- the only all weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country -- was plying as usual despite intermittent rains that ended the over one-and-a-half months long dry spell, they said.
ALSO READ: India overpowered by Minhas' big hundred and pacers as Pakistan clinch U19 Asia Cup
The Mughal road, which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian, was closed for traffic as a precautionary measure after more than three inches of snow was recorded at Peer Ki Gali on Sunday afternoon.
A group of three tea vendors are left stranded on the road and efforts are on to evacuate them to safety, officials said.
After they were trapped in the snow, the vendors made passionate appeals through video messages urging the authorities to rescue them. The Border Roads Organisation has taken up snow clearance work and is trying to reach the stranded persons, officials said.
The Sinthan Top road, which connects Kishtwar and Doda districts in Jammu with south Kashmir's Anantnag, was also closed after moderate snowfall in the higher reaches.
Both the mountainous roads usually remain closed for several months due to heavy snowfall during winter.
