Vehicle Fitness Testing Halted in Pune for Two Weeks, Commercial Vehicles Await Certification

Pune, 19th March 2026: Vehicle fitness testing has been suspended in Pune for the past two weeks, leading to delays in certification and passing of commercial vehicles. The disruption has affected vehicle owners and drivers, prompting transport unions to urge the state government to resume the process immediately.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made fitness testing at Automated Testing Stations (ATS) mandatory for commercial vehicles. However, as ATS facilities are still under development across the state, including at the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO), fitness testing was halted in February due to the absence of an operational centre.

Following protests by driver associations, fitness checks were briefly resumed through motor vehicle inspectors for about 10 days. However, since March 2, the process has again been suspended.

The ATS centre under the Pune RTO is currently being set up in the Dive area and is expected to take at least one-and-a-half to two months to become fully operational. In the meantime, fitness certification for private commercial vehicles, goods carriers, autorickshaws, as well as some buses of state transport and PMPML, remains pending.

Bapu Bhave, secretary of the Rickshaw Federation, said that since the automated centre is not yet functional, fitness testing should continue through motor vehicle inspectors. He warned that unions may resort to protests if the issue is not resolved soon.

Swapnil Bhosale, Deputy Regional Transport Officer, Pune, said a proposal has been submitted to resume fitness checks through inspectors, and further action will be taken as per government orders.