Bhubaneswar, Sept. 25: In the wake of a number of road mishaps in the state, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) has started a drive against vehicles, especially passenger buses, plying without fitness certificate.

To add teeth to the drive, transport officials inspecting the vehicles have been provided with tablets to click photographs of the vehicle before granting them fitness certificate.

Transport officials said they were checking almost every aspect of a vehicle, including its braking system, lights, tyres and gearbox, to ensure that the passenger buses are fit to hit the roads.

"The inspecting officials have been asked to take five photographs of the buses. We have been provided with two tablets for this purpose. The decision of taking photographs of the vehicle is aimed at transparency," said Bhubaneswar-I regional transport officer Lal Mohan Sethy.

Transport vehicles are issued a fitness certificate for two years from the date of registration and the owner of the vehicle needs to renew the fitness every year after that. The owner needs to apply with the concerned Regional Transport Office (RTO), and the officials renew the fitness every year after inspecting the vehicle.

The minimum penalty for not having a fitness certificate is Rs 2,500, which can go up to Rs 5,000 while the penalty for subsequent offence is Rs 10,000.

Transport officials also said that insurance companies could deny insurance claims in case of an accident in the absence of a fitness certificate.

In April this year, 27 people were killed after a bus carrying a jatra troupe skidded off a road and fell into a gorge in Deogarh district.

Investigation had revealed that the fitness certificate of the vehicle had expired three years ago. There is also suspicion over the fitness of the bus that met with an accident at Athamallik in Angul district this month claiming 19 lives. It has been alleged that the transport department issued fitness certificate to the ill-fated vehicle that was registered in 2000, while other vehicles were denied the same during the period.

The transport officials have also decided to adopt a stringent measure for providing fitness to passenger buses plying for 15 years. "We will rigorously check the vehicles running for 15 years before granting them fitness certificate. Vehicles plying for 15 years have very little chance to renew their fitness," said a transport official.

On the other hand, transport officials said that there should be provision for inspection of passenger buses every four months as against the norm of yearly inspection. "There are passenger buses that cover around 1000 kilometres everyday which raises the chances of wear and tear. But as per law, fitness certificate is issued every year. So we don't have any provision to inspect such long running buses more than once a year," said a transport official.