Guwahati, Aug 2: Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has asked the state transport department to bring more services under the category of ‘contactless services’ for the convenience of people.
Reviewing the activities of the transport department in a meeting with the district transport officers at Janata Bhawan here on Tuesday, the chief minister asked the department to include five more services under the ‘contactless services’ category
Currently, 40 services of the transport department are there under the ‘contactless services’ category.
As it is, all the services in the transport department will be online from August 15 onwards as manual services will be offered only to those customers whose bio-metric identities have been withheld by law.
Sarma also asked the department to have discussions with the finance department to facilitate use of digital payment gateways to realise fines from defaulters.
He also stressed on taking steps for creation of new posts in the transport department to take contactless services of the department to a new level.
The chief minister further asked the DTOs to ensure that customers receive messages on their mobile phones before the expiry of vehicle fitness certificates.
“Similarly, before 30 days of the expiry of validity of learners’ licences, the customers should also get mobile messages. All DTOs should convene a meeting with all the transporters to ensure that all vehicles plying in Assam be registered in the state within one year even if they are registered outside,” the chief minister said.
The chief minister asked the transport department to intensify fines from overloaded vehicles.
On the other hand, taking into consideration the number of accident-related fatalities, Sarma observed that the deputy commissioners of the districts, which recorded more than 100 fatalities caused by road accidents in the last one year, should convene meetings with all the stakeholders and find out ways to prevent accidents.