Tracking devices & panic buttons in 70% commercial vehicles in state by March 2024

Srishti Lakhotia | MP | 4 Sept 2023 | Kolkata: By 2024 March, the state Transport department expects that 70 per cent of commercial vehicles will install Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) and panic buttons to help drivers and passengers seek help in an emergency. App cab driver Zunaid Alam has been driving in the city for more than 10 years and dealt with his share of rowdy passengers. 

But in mid-August, when a passenger travelling from Garden Reach to Park Street refused to pay the fare after ending the trip mid-way, Zunaid was helped by Kolkata Police when he pressed the ‘panic button’, which he had installed last month in his car. The matter was subsequently resolved with the passenger paying his fare.

 “I have been driving since 1996 and for app cab companies, since 2015. I never thought installing panic buttons in my vehicle would help me so much. It can help other drivers as well as passengers in seeking help,” Zunaid told Millennium Post. 

The state Transport department has been actively promoting the installation of VLTD and panic buttons in commercial vehicles since mid-2022. When pressed during an emergency, it alerts the police, the hospital authorities, the vehicle owner and the concerned officials of the transport department, making it quicker to launch a rescue operation. 

A senior official said: “Last month we received more than three lakh red alerts. Out of these only 0.1 per cent were genuine cases while others were mostly technical errors or accidental. In some cases, we issued show-cause notices to the manufacturers, particularly three of them, as most of their devices were found to be defective.” 

More than 60 lakh commercial vehicles were fitted with VLTD and panic buttons. By 2024 March, the department expects 70 per cent of commercial vehicles to have this facility. Four control rooms were set up in the state for monitoring the VLTD-fitted vehicles. 

These are at Poddar Court in Kolkata, Durgapur, Siliguri and another place in North Bengal. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/tracking-devices-panic-buttons-in-70-commercial-vehicles-in-state-by-march-2024-531593