The Mizoram government will ban fresh purchase of vehicles for all departments, barring for a few important officials, and outsource them from private firms, agencies or individuals to limit expenditure, a senior official said on Thursday.

General administration commissioner and secretary Ashish Kundra said the Government of Mizoram Vehicle Outsourcing Policy, 2019, was approved by the meeting of council of ministers on November 8. Once the policy comes into effect, the purchase of new vehicles will be banned for all departments, boards or corporations, autonomous district councils and other bodies aided by the state government except for senior officers at the rank of secretary and above, VIP protocol vehicles, district deputy commissioners or magistrates and district superintendent of police, he said.

The policy will also not be applicable in high security offices and sensitive areas and about 50 per cent of Mizoram houses vehicles will also be exempted from the provision’s ambit, Kundra added.

The government has notified the policy and notice inviting expression of interest for empanelment of vehicles and drivers was floated recently.

The price ceiling for entitlement has been fixed at Rs 35,000 per month for level 13 and above and Rs 30,000 per month for level 12 and below, including pool vehicles. The price ceiling will cover driver wages and any damage caused to the car due to any reason will be borne by the provider.

The government will separately provide petrol to the outsourced vehicle.

Any interested firms, agencies or individuals will have to apply to the general administration department by paying a registration fee of Rs 1,000. The application will thereafter be forwarded to the transport department which will create a single-window interface and provide clearance within a week on road and other compliances as per law.

Kundra said the registration process is dynamic and not a one-time exercise.

To assure quality, only vehicles registered not more than two years before the year of application are eligible for empanelment and under no circumstances will ply for more than six years, he said.

The outsourced vehicles must also have a global positioning system tracking device, Kundra added.

Under the policy, a vehicle will be hired for 10 hours on a daily basis for an initial period of one year after which it will be reviewed at the discretion of the hiring departments concerned.

The outsourced vehicles will be used in the general pool of the department when the requisitioning officer is on leave or out of station.

The official said government vehicles that are in good condition will be allowed to ply for up to eight years of their registration dates.

He said revision of vehicle entitlement, which was approved by the cabinet, will be tabled again in the next cabinet meeting.