Pune: RTO Launches Automated Fitness Testing For Commercial Vehicles At Dive

Pune: The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) has started operations at its new Automated Testing Station (ATS) at Dive village to conduct fitness tests for commercial vehicles. The new system aims to make vehicle inspections faster, more transparent and based on scientific parameters.

The facility became operational on Wednesday and is part of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' plan to replace manual fitness checks with automated testing. The Pune RTO demonstrated the system to the media on Thursday.

However, the automated system will not be used for all vehicles immediately. Vehicles that already have appointments under the manual system will continue to be inspected through the existing process. Once the pending appointments are cleared, new bookings will gradually be moved to the ATS. Officials expect the facility to become fully operational within a month.

Swapnil Bhosale, Deputy Regional Transport Officer, Pune, said the new facility would remove human subjectivity from fitness certification. He said vehicles would be assessed through computerised tests and fitness certificates would be issued based on test results.

Once fully operational, the ATS will be able to conduct around 600 vehicle fitness tests a day. Officials expect this to reduce waiting time and make the certification process more efficient.

Vehicle owners will have to book appointments online through the Automated Fitness Management System (AFMS). On reaching the facility, vehicles will be identified using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) or QR code scanning.

The vehicles will then undergo a series of automated checks. These will include tests for brake efficiency, suspension, wheel alignment, speedometer accuracy, headlamp alignment, axle load, emissions and the condition of the vehicle's underbody.

The test results will be uploaded directly to the AFMS. The system will then automatically declare the vehicle fit or unfit. Vehicles that pass all the required tests will receive a digital Form-66 fitness certificate. Those that fail will have to repair the defects and return for a re-test.

The RTO has also made several pre-checks mandatory before vehicles are brought for testing. Vehicles with bald tyres, broken windscreens, damaged mirrors, faulty wipers, defective lights or horns, non-working speedometers or missing High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) will be declared unfit.

Depending on the type of vehicle, officials will also check emission compliance, retro-reflective tapes, reflectors, speed governor calibration and AIS-140 GPS devices.

To keep the process free from outside influence, drivers and other persons will not be allowed inside the automated testing lane while the inspection is underway. Officials said the move would help make the testing process objective and prevent tampering.

The ATS is expected to bring a major change to the way commercial vehicles are assessed for roadworthiness in Pune, with the RTO gradually moving away from manual inspections towards a fully automated system.