RTO approves new autorickshaw permits in Nashik

The Regional Transport Office (RTO) approved 1,667 new permits for autorickshaws in Nashik. The RTO would be displaying the list of new permit holders within a couple of days.
The RTO had organized a draw in Mumbai in this connection, which was telecast live in the city for the convenience of local autorickshaw drivers who had applied for the permits. Besides displaying the list, the applicants would also be sent messages on their cellphones. Thereafter, an official letter will be sent to the applicants informing them about their win and asking them to submit the required documents at the RTO office. It is decided to give two weeks to the applicants to come with their documents. However, since they have just concluded the draw, this deadline might change.
Thereafter, the documents of the applicants would be scrutinized, following which the eligible applicants would be given a letter of intent and six months’ time to produce the vehicle. The RTO has also prepared a waiting list of the remaining applicants so that if the winners fail to come to the RTO for further process, the ones in the waiting list can be contacted according to their serial numbers.
After the completion of permit procedure, the city may see an additional 1,667 autorickshaws at their service. The process of issuing permits had been stopped by the RTO since 1997. Since then, only those having permits got it renewed on a yearly basis. At the time when the process of issuing permits was stopped, there were 22,708 permit holders in the city.
Over the years, there were quite a few permit holders, who failed to get their permits renewed. Last year, the  State Transport authority decided to check the number of permits which were not renewed.
In Nashik, the RTO found that 3,600 permits were not renewed and lying defunct. After taking a review of all the defunct permits across the state, it was decided to issue 50% of them afresh.
In Nashik, it was decided to issue 1,667 permits for which online applications were invited.
Since more applications were received from across the state, it was decided to organise a draw to keep the process of issuing the permits transparent.