Government Official Responses
The study team of CEG-IIMA team interacted with the former transport commissioner (who
conceived and executed the CICP project) and other RTO officials to get their perceptions about
the computerized interstate check posts. The following sections give an analysis of the data
collected.
3.3.1 Transport Commissioner
When the transport commissioner took over his position in 1998, on a random observation of the
check post operations recognized the need for improvement in the estimation and collection
systems at the check posts in order to plug leakage of government revenues.
To start with, the commissioner introduced the Pre-paid Card System in 1998, allowing a
transporter to voluntarily pay Rs. 1200 per month for overloading. This scheme allowed the
vehicle to overload up to 20% of the permissible weight. This scheme proved to be quite popular
and revenues jumped by 82% in that year (from Rs. 31 crores to 56 crores – see the table below).