Anger rises as Anti-theft HSRP ‘robs’ vehicle owners in Nagaland

A wave of anger is spreading through the vehicle-owning community in Nagaland against the cost of installing the anti-theft High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) which has, in effect, left citizens feeling nothing less than violated – if not robbed. And confusion is widespread.

At the time of filing this news report, citizens in Dimapur were understood to be mobilizing a plan of action already to ‘strike back’ and stage protests against the government-ordered drive that is leaving vehicle owners cheated.
According to a reputed Indian transport and vehicle portal, Zigwheels, owners of 4-wheelers are to pay only Rs. 334 and Rs. 111 for two-wheelers, for a set of HSRP plates. Commercial vehicle owners are to pay only Rs. 134 while the price that heavy commercial vehicle-owners are required to pay is Rs. 258 (including taxes).
A Nagaland government official The Morung Express contacted said he was not acquainted with the actual fees one has to pay for the plate. Neither the Commissioner of transport nor the District Transport Officer of Dimapur could be reached. Also, at the time of this report being filed, no official index of the HSRP’s price could be obtained.  

Registering high-stress confusion
Nonetheless, what Nagaland’s citizens are allegedly paying to install the HSRP is leaving many tearing their hair out. Their frustration seems to be aimed at the almost insolent variance of the fees they have to pay for installing the HSRP.

It is true that the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has said that the price of the HSRP “may vary from State to State,” as stated by Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways Dr. Tushar A Choudhary in the Parliament earlier. However, a comparison of the installation charges in Nagaland with that of other states like Delhi and Goa, offers a reasonable idea that Nagaland may be engaged in a “legal” form of daylight robbery, as one citizen commented to this daily June 29.

Interestingly the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) is set to commence investigations into the issue of HSRP in Uttar Pradesh and other states, and expected to probe the possibility of whether a cartel of three contract companies are “duping” the State governments of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. The national Media reported that the CBI is aware that HSRPs are reportedly being supplied at even Rs. 1, 800 for a plate in the stated States.  

Comments aside, the reality of ‘variance’ in Nagaland seem to be far beyond the real meaning of the term “vary.”  For instance, there apparently is no uniformity in the cost of installing a HSRP. The cost varies from district to district – from Rs. 1, 300 to Rs. 1, 700 – and according to some citizens, even from a vehicle model to another – from Rs. 400 to even Rs. 1, 100 or so.

A citizen of Dimapur who registered for a HSRP for his two-wheeler, a Pulsar, disclosed Friday night, June 29 that the he had to pay Rs. 471.66 – not including the fees he had to pay for his “registration card.” When queried if he was aware that he was to pay only around Rs. 111 actually, he responded in the negative. Then the citizen alleged that he had to get other peripherals that would go with his HSRP – a “smart card” for those whose registrations numbers are from prior to 2010. The “smart card” would be a record to be “entered into the computer to be kept as a record.” The entire cost for his HSRP, including the “smart card” came to about Rs. 1, 200. The citizen requested not to be named.

Strangely, another citizen from Dimapur, a scooter-owner this time, alleged that he was charged Rs. 600 for his HSRP.

Even more remarkable is the amount of money owners of 4-wheelers are allegedly paying in Nagaland for a HSRP. A citizen from Eralibil in Dimapur explained that she had to shell out at least Rs. 1, 700 for her car’s HSRP. The plot seems to get thicker; a person The Morung Express contacted in Kohima tonight said – on condition of anonymity – that he paid Rs. 1, 200 for the plate. If what he alleged is true, then the allegations make Dimapur a bigger wallet nightmare for vehicle owners.
 
Interestingly, even as this news report was being filed, an email was received here from a citizen. The man wrote in his email that “fixing the plate” cost him Rs. 1, 300. The man also added in his email information about a private citizens’ meeting at Nagarjan junction in Dimapur to protest the cost of HSRPs.

 

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What the Government says

The Chief Secretary of Nagaland, Lalthara, was contacted by The Morung Express on Friday: “We will re-notify it (price for installing HSRP) by tomorrow or day after tomorrow,” he said. Lalthara was also holding charge of the Transport department before the administration was reshuffled in May. “People are also reporting that they are being charged more than what they should actually be paying,” the State official added.  For all its worth, Nagaland seems to be following faithfully in the steps of another “Christian state,” Goa. Just weeks ago, around the 12th, the Transport department of Goa slashed the cost of installing HSRP by more than 50%.
During June second week, Goa’s Transport department opened financial bids for fixing HSRPs, and stipulated Rs. 242 instead of the previous cost of Rs. 550 for motorcycle owners; scooter-owners are to pay Rs. 230 now instead of Rs. 550; three-wheeler owners have to pay Rs. 270 instead of Rs. 650. Likewise, owners of four-wheeler and passenger cars are required to pay Rs. 415 instead of Rs. 1,200 while six-wheeler owners are to pay Rs. 463 instead of Rs. 1,250.