Many vehicles without RR plates as deadline looms [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Many vehicles without RR plates as deadline looms

Local December 05, 2015

A large number of motor vehicles are still plying the roads across the country without Retro-Reflective number plates with radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags though a government directive asked these number plates be fit to all vehicles by this December.
Many unfit vehicles ply the roads as the owners opt to ‘manage’ concerned officials instead of renewing their registration for the vehicle.
Government officials said they would take legal action if any vehicle runs without such number plates after December 31 this year.
However, they agreed it would be difficult to ensure RR number plates on all motor vehicles within the timeline.
On October 10 a circular was issued which read – vehicles which take registration from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority will not be able to run anywhere in the country without RR number plate and RFID tags after December 31, 2015.
After being inaugurated by the prime minister Sheikh Hasina on October 31, 2012, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited started to produce and replace the RR number plates on vehicles on November 7 the same year.
According to the BRTA, till November this year, the number of total registered vehicles under the authority crossed 24 lakh.
Besides, there are several lakh unregistered motorcycles and other motor vehicles on roads, said police and BRTA officials.
Till November 30, 7.09 lakh RR number plates have been fit to motor vehicles while the BMTF has produced 10.13 lakh such number plates, said officials.
Owners of 12.83 lakh vehicles deposited registration fee till November 30, they added.
Meanwhile BRTA do not cancel the registrations of permanently unfit and destroyed motor vehicles. It also does not keep any record of such vehicles.
A senior BRTA officer said among the registered vehicles, 13.26 lakh are motorcycles and many of these are yet to be fit with RR number plates due to negligence of owners.
About 95 per cent of the private cars already have RR number plates because of awareness among the owners, said the official.
The officer also said the BMTF was slow in fitting number plates on vehicles.
BMTF regional operation manager at BRTA’s Mirpur office, Bony Amin, said progress in fitting RR number plates with RFID tags was satisfactory.
He said owners of the vehicles should be more aware and interested in getting the number plates for their vehicles.
BRTA secretary Muhammad Showkat Ali told New Age that a meeting had been held at the authority head office on Thursday.
At the meeting, the BMTF and concerned officials had been asked to implement the President’s order within December this year, he said.
‘If any vehicle runs without RR number plates and RFID tags on roads from next January, our executive magistrates and law enforcing agencies will take action,’ he added.
Retro-reflectivity materials have the ability to send most of light back to its source.
Radio-frequency identification is the use of a wireless non-contact system that uses radio-frequency electronic fields to transfer data from a tag attached to an object for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking.