Delhi govt waives off fitness fee of auto drivers, cuts down other major charges

The Delhi government on Tuesday waived off fitness fees charged from the auto-rickshaw drivers and reduced other significant charges from them.

The Delhi Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, approved the Department of Transport's proposal to revise the fee for various transactions of auto rickshaws.

"Under the new proposal, auto-rickshaw owners or drivers will be not be charged for fitness fee which was Rs 600 in 2016. The Fitness Penalty for late fees and Registration or Re-registration fees has been reduced from Rs 1000 per day to Rs 300 per day," read an official statement.

The Duplicate Registration Certificate and Transfer of Ownership, for which the auto drivers had to pay Rs 500 will now be available for Rs 150.

The Penalty fee has also been reduced to Rs 100 from Rs 500 per month. The Hire Purchase Addition fee has also been brought down to Rs 500 from Rs 1500.

Apart from above, GPS Tracking Charges which they had to pay were Rs 100 per month plus GST. Also, they had to pay SIM charges of Rs 495 plus GST per year.

Fee in respect of grant as well as renewal of a permit is contained in Rule 59(1)(a) of Delhi Motor Vehicle Rules, 1993 which is Rs 1000. It is proposed to reduce this fee to Rs 500. An amendment would be required to be made in Rule 59(1)(a) to give effect to this proposal.

Further, the Cabinet decided that the GPS tracking charges and charges for sim may not be charged from auto-rickshaw owners/drivers and the same shall be paid by the Transport Department.

Presently, the GPS Tracking Charges is Rs 100 per month plus GST and charges for SIM are Rs 495 plus GST per year.

All the change will come into effect from September 1. Only the fees in respect of grant as well as renewal of a permit will come into effect from October 15.