Cuttack Residents Face Pollution Certificate Woes Amidst RTO Challan Issues

Pollution certificate pain that does not leave behind, people have to pay challans even to pay fines! Cuttack, 3112 (Bureau): The State Transport Department has arbitrarily imposed a ban on people. People are facing various problems. After standing in line for pollution certificates, the certificates cannot be obtained due to congestion. And the order issued that pollution certificates cannot be issued to those who have fines is leaving people in a state of confusion. It is alleged that the general public has to pay challans at various RTO offices even to pay fines. As a result, paying the challan has become more painful than obtaining the pollution control certificate. There are two types of challans. One challan has been issued by the police, another by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) staff. The ones issued by the police are in the virtual court. They are being paid online. But there is a problem at the RTO level. Although there is a rule that every challan should be sent to the court within 90 days of the issuance of the challan, many RTOs have suppressed these challans without sending them to the court. The transport department is silent on this issue. But if a person wants to file a complaint in the court, there is a provision for rectification. But this power has been given to the RTOs. The person concerned will submit an application to the RTO regarding the case pending in the court. He will mention that he wants to revert his case. Based on this application, the RTO will withdraw his fine case. After that, the vehicle owner can apply for a pollution certificate by paying his fine. But now there are allegations that he has to pay a lot of money in various RTO offices to withdraw this fine case. The RTO employees are not withdrawing the case without paying the money. The vehicle owners are forced to pay the fine to obtain a pollution certificate and are paying the money. In this regard, a senior official of the transport department said that there have been no complaints about the money being paid. If such complaints are received, strict action will be taken against the employees concerned.