BENGALURU, 11 JULY

The Bengaluru Regional Transport Office (RTO) has launched a significant crackdown on illegally operating vehicles from other states and those violating traffic norms within the City. RTO registered 665 cases and seized 302 vehicles for infractions in just five days.

Vehicles registered outside Karnataka require a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and must pay taxes to ply within the State. However, many owners have bypassed these regulations, prompting this enforcement action. Vehicles with registration plates from Delhi, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, and Nagaland were found to be operating illegally in the City. According to RTO data, Bengaluru Central registered the highest violations, with 299 cases and Rs 25 lakh collected in tax dues.

Additional Commissioner for Transport, C Mallikarjuna, told Salar News, “The operation, which began at 10 am on Thursday, targeted multiple locations including Madiwala, HSR Layout, Silk Board, Bellandur, and Ring Road. During the inspections, officials checked vehicles for unauthorised advertisements, unpaid taxes, unauthorised use of whiteboard vehicles for commercial travel, and overcharging of passengers by aggregator companies.”

Additionally, RTO cracked down on illegal bike taxis, registering 277 cases, including 46 for electric vehicle (EV) taxis. Licenses of drivers operating these illegal bike taxis were suspended. "Initially, we aimed to crack down only on bike taxis. However, since the team was already working on vehicle enforcement, we instructed them to check other vehicles as well," Mallikarjuna said. -Salar News