No takers for more than 6,000 HSRPs piling up in Panchkula

Link Utsav Autosystems has its office at the bus stand, Sector 5, where the number plates have accumulated over the last two years. Many number plates were disposed of after these got damaged.

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Vehicle owners say that the company has a cumbersome process and it takes several visits to its office to have the number plates fixed.

Said M M Verma, a resident of Sector 21, “When I visited the centre, I was asked to come again, and then again. It took four visits over two months to get the number plates affixed. It is because of this harassment that people avoid visiting the centre. To add to it, the workers do not have proper tools to affix the plates. The quality of number plates is poor.”

Amit Kumar, a resident of Sector 26, said, “One has to take leave from office, but still the number plate may not be affixed. People are asked to come again. And there is no place where one can sit while waiting.’’

Secretary of the Regional Transport Authority Kushal Kataria said they had received several complaints about the functioning of the company office.

“We brought this matter to the notice of their head office. Some officials visited the centre and directed them to ensure efficiency. The larger problem is that the company holds the state-wide contract, they have a monopoly and people are facing difficulty not just in Panchkula, but in other districts as well,” said Kataria.

Rakesh Kumar, official in charge of the company’s Panchkula branch, denied the allegations and claimed that they followed “a proper procedure’’ in which vehicle owners were issued tokens and asked to come for affixing the plates on their turn.

“The residents are complacent. Because no challans are issued in Panchkula for not having HSRPs, they tend to postpone their visit to the centre. We keep the vehicle plates till the claimants come since they have paid for these,” he said.