Promise of Uber & driving schools

Patna: The state government will open motor driving training institutes in all divisional and district headquarters in a phased manner and will soon formulate a policy to facilitate running of app-based taxi services such as Uber and Ola in Bihar, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Thursday.

Bihar does not have government-run driving schools. Some private players are running the business at a few places including Patna in an informal manner but the training process has not been institutionalised.

“The Centre will provide Rs 1 crore for each of the driving training schools while the state government will provide 1 acre of land for each institution,” Modi said after a review meeting of transport department here on Thursday where transport minister Santosh Kumar Nirala and senior department officials were present.

An automated vehicle inspection and testing centre facility will also come up at Bihta near Patna, for which the Centre will provide Rs 50 crore and the state has provided 3 acres of land. The review meeting also decided that an online process would be initiated for ensuring dealer point registration of the vehicles in addition to the road tax payment and issuance of national permit.

Similarly, another software will be used for online payment of driving licence fee, online payment of fine in case of violation of traffic rules, and e-auctioning of choice registration number of vehicles will also be introduced in the state.

The transport department’s revenue increased to Rs 1,624 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 1,249 crore in 2016-17.

The department has set a revenue generation goal of Rs 2,000 crore in the current fiscal.

The number of registered vehicles also jumped by 46 per cent in 2017-18 in comparison to the previous fiscal (2016-17). As many as 92,4764 two-wheelers were registered in 2017-18 and the corresponding figures for three-wheelers, four-wheelers and commercial vehicles stood at 37,003, 62,452 and 89,587 respectively.

Modi said the transport department is considering handover of the land of Sultan Palace and Bankipore bus stand to the tourism department.

Both these plots are located in the heart of the capital. Sultan Palace is on Beer Chand Patel Marg and the Bankipore bus stand is located near Gandhi Maidan.

Courtesy: The Telegraph