Context

• The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has mandated that all new public service vehicles except auto rickshaws and eRickshaws, registered on and after 1st January 2019, will have to be equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking (VLT) with emergency buttons.
• In case of older public service vehicles–those registered up to 31^st December, 2018, the respective State/UT Governments will notify the date by which these vehicles have to install Vehicle Location Tracking Device and Panic Buttons.

About

• The VLT device manufacturers would assist in providing the back end services for monitoring.
• Command and Control Centers will be setup by the State or VLT manufacturers or any other agency authorized by the State Government, and these centers will provide interface to various stakeholders such as state emergency response centre, the transport department, etc.
• The details of each VLT device will be uploaded on the VAHAN database by the VLT device manufacturer using its secured authenticated access.
• The public service vehicle owners have to ensure that the VLT devices installed in their vehicles are in working condition and regularly send required data to the corresponding backend system through cellular connectivity.
• The State or Union Territories will publish Internet Protocol address (IP address) and Short Message Service Gateway (SMS gateway) details of their respective emergency response system where VLT devices will send the emergency alerts on press of emergency button.

Significance

This regulation will contribute in ensuring safety of passengers especially women.