Special Chief Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Roads and Buildings MT Krishna Babu with representatives of Andhra Pradesh Truck Owners Association at the Secretariat on Tuesday. | Photo credit: HANDOUT
Members of the Andhra Pradesh Truck Owners Association have rejected the state government’s proposal to reduce the vehicle fitness test fee by up to 50 percent.
Ministry of Transport and Roads and Buildings Special Principal Secretary MT Krishna Babu, Transport Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha and Joint Transport Commissioner Shivaram Prasad met the members of the association on Tuesday.
They took a long look at the notification GSR 850(E) issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 11 November 2025 amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. This notification follows the draft rules published on 27 August 2025 (GSR 600 E) to amend the regulations under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 based on feedback the public.
Members of the association said that vehicles older than 20 years were mainly used for self-employment and that only about 10-12 percent of these vehicles are currently on the road. They explained that older vehicles were naturally phased out due to unavailability of spare parts. In this context, they expressed concern that the imposition of high taxes would have a serious impact on small vehicle owners and demanded that the rates be capped at a maximum of 25 percent, to which the government responded positively.
They also urged that joint signature permits be issued between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana immediately. Mr. Krishna Babu directed the officials to act quickly in this matter. A decision was also taken to appoint a special officer to deal with issues related to the Vahan software.
State General Secretary Truck Owners Association YV Eswara Rao, Treasurer Nadella Krishna, Krishna District Truck Owners Association President Nagamothu Raja, General Secretary AVV Satyanarayana, Secretary Ravi Sharath Babu and others attended the meeting.
Published – 17 March 2026 22:45 IST
