Vehicle fitness test through ATS to be mandatory from April 2023, proposes MoRTH

The government on Sunday has proposed certain amendments for vehicle fitness testing and automated testing stations (ATS), under which it plans to make fitness testing of vehicles through ATS mandatory in a phased manner starting from April 2023. A draft notification has been filed proposing fitness testing for heavy goods vehicles and heavy passenger motor vehicles through an ATS as mandatory from 1st April 2023. In the case of medium goods vehicles and medium passenger motor vehicles and light motor vehicles (transport), the requirement will be made compulsory from 1st June 2024.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in a statement said that it has issued a draft notification on 25th March 2022 to bring certain amendments in the rules for "Recognition, Regulation And Control of Automated Testing Stations (ATS), which were earlier published on September 23 2021.

"These draft rules propose amendments in the following aspects - eligibility criteria for establishing these stations, automatic transmission of test results from equipment to the server, enabling vehicles registered in one state to be tested in another state, and the criteria to declare a vehicle as end-of-life vehicle," the draft notification said.

An ATS uses mechanical equipment to automate various tests that are required to check the fitness of a vehicle. The draft notification has proposed the addition of certain new equipment for the testing of electric vehicles. The government claims that this would standardise the format for test results and promote ease of doing business.

In 2021, MoRTH had said that special purpose vehicles, state governments, companies, associations and individuals may be allowed to open ATS for testing the fitness of both personal and transport vehicles. This will be linked to the National Vehicle Scrappage Policy in August last year. Combined, this policy is said to help phase out unfit and polluting vehicles and also promote a circular economy.

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