Panjim: Hit hard by the lockdown, taxi operators had urged the Transport department not to impose penalty on late payment of fees.
Despite the notification by the ministry, the taxi operators, who made a failed bid to meet Transport Director Rajan Satardekar on Tuesday, alleged they are being charged penalty at the time of renewing their permits/licenses.
“In our last meeting with the director on the same issue, he had assured to revert in 8-10 days but we still are slapped with a penalty on license fees renewal. We have had no income since the lockdown and we are still struggling. We don’t know for how long the lockdown will continue and therefore urge the department and the government to waive off the fine,” said Ravindra Vengurlekar, one of the taxi operators who led the delegation at the Transport Department.
“We are totally dependent on hotels and tourists in the coastal areas to run our business but since 75 days, we are jobless with no income. The government should be sympathetic towards us,” another taxi operator added.
The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways had last month issued a notification announcing validity extension for driving license and vehicle fitness certificate. The ministry had said that the validity for the documents related to the Motor Vehicles Act and Central Motor vehicles Rules including all types of driving license, permits and vehicle fitness certificate has been extended till June 30, 2020; a step that was aimed at offering relief to the people amid the COVID-19 lockdown.
The extension in the validity will be applicable for those documents whose expiry dates fall between February 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020.
