Sudden closure of HSRP centres causes panic among citizens

Punekars were in for disappointment when they came to know of the sudden closure of two authorised HSRP (high-security registration plate) centres in the city.

Many citizens who visited the centre on Tuesday for installation of HSRPs simply found a notice posted at the location saying that the facility has been cancelled for appointments scheduled after March 6. There was no further clarification or information provided in the notice.

Ashwin Pathak said, “Only one person was present at the location, and he said that he had no information on the matter. He simply advised people to read the notice outside and take further action accordingly. The notice displayed helpline numbers, but despite trying for two to three hours, no response was received from the helpline and the numbers were continuously busy.”

Another citizen Mandar Rathi said, “Finally, contact was successfully made with one of the helpline numbers. The person on the call informed that details about the new distributor will be provided in the next couple of days.”

As per a central government directive, the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) had earlier given a deadline of March 31, 2025 for installation of HSRPs for vehicles registered before April 2019 but the same was later extended to April 30 this year. There are around 125 authorised HSRP centres and more than 25 lakh older vehicles in Pune district. Vehicle owners need to visit the online portal, fill in the required details, submit an application, schedule a time for fitness inspection, pay the fees, and get their HSRPs. Taking advantage of the short duration of time however, unauthorised vendors are now preparing HSRPs and installing them at low rates.

Swapnil Bhosale, deputy regional transport officer, Pune RTO, said, “Two of the authorised centres to register and install HSRPs in Pune city have closed down and we received complaints about it. So, we immediately contacted the authorised company and instructed it to increase the number of centres to 125 across Pune city so that citizens will be benefitted. There is no need to worry as the citizens who had registered at the centres which closed down will be given HSRPs by nearby centres on the same date.”

“Till today, a total 155,163 citizens have applied for HSRPs in Pune out of which, 63,744 have been given appointment dates by the authorised centres. Whereas 33,236 citizens have completed the process and installed HSRPs till now. We have increased the number of authorised HSRP centres from 69 to 125 with instructions to add more centres to reduce the waiting period,” Bhosale said.