Governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh of NCR sign Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement

What is the News?

Governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh of National Capital Region (NCR) have signed a Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreements (CRCTA) covering both Contract Carriage & Stage Carriage.

Note: National Capital Region (NCR) is a planning region centred upon the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. It encompasses Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

What are the Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreements(CRCTA)?

Signed by: Governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh 

Aim: To facilitate seamless movement of passenger vehicles in the National Capital Region(NCR).

Coverage: All Motor cabs/Taxis/Auto Rickshaws, All Educational Institution vehicles and All Stage Carriage Buses of State Transport Undertakings (including City bus services) of NCR participating states will be covered under this agreement.

Key Features of the Agreement: The agreement provides for:

– Countersigning of permits and licences for motor cabs, taxis, auto-rickshaws registered in NCR for seamless movement.

– All permits/licences including temporary permits/licences (Contract Carriage and also Stage Carriage, as applicable) shall be issued only on Vaahan Software.

– The age of the Stage Carriage vehicles as well as Contract Carriage vehicles shall be limited to ten years for diesel vehicles and fifteen years for petrol/CNG vehicles.

– Single-point taxation to state-owned transport bodies, wherein road tax/passenger tax shall be payable by them only in one NCR State and exempted from such taxes/fees in the other NCR States.

– Exemption in taxes, including road taxes, to buses and other vehicles of educational institutions.

–  All Public Service Vehicles (except those specifically exempted by MoRTH) shall be mandatorily fitted with Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) and one or more emergency buttons.

What is the significance of this agreement?

One of the policy proposals of the Regional Plan-2021 for the National Capital Region is the unrestricted movement of buses, taxis, and auto-rickshaws within NCR.

Hence, implementation of this agreement is important to facilitate the general public to commute between Delhi and the rest of NCR seamlessly.

Source: This post is based on an article “Governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh of NCR sign Combined Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement” published in PIB on 25th March 2022.