Delhi govt orders installation of GPS trackers in all its vehicles to prevent 'misuse'

The Delhi government has ordered installation of GPS-enabled tracking devices in all its vehicles and those belonging to civic bodies and autonomous institutions, to prevent their "misuse".

The government has also directed that no officer can use more than one official vehicle on the ground that they are holding additional charges.

The directions issued to all heads of departments by the general administration department (GAD) also stated that no vehicle will be allowed to run without GPS trackers from next month.

In its order issued on August 24, the GAD has sought compliance report by September 1, saying it will be the responsibility of the respective heads of departments, corporation, board and other government agencies to ensure its strict implementation.

The move came days after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, following complaints, directed the department to prevent "misuse" of government vehicles.

Allotment of vehicles to an entitled officer will be done through executive order by name so that responsibility can be fixed in case of misuse, it stated.

"It has come to the notice of the government that many officers are using more than one official vehicle on the ground that they are holding additional charges.

"It is, therefore, ordered that the entitled officers shall use only one government vehicles irrespective of number of charges they are holding," the order stated.

The GAD said GPS-enabled tracking devices should be installed in all government vehicles including those of corporations, board and all other government agencies.

"The finance department should ensure that there is regular periodic audit of the government vehicles. General pool for vehicles be restricted to the department where there are functional exigencies," it stated.

The government has ordered that a software should be developed to link log book generation with the movement of vehicles tracked by GPS.

In May this year, cracking the whip on employees using official vehicles for personal work, the Delhi government's social welfare department had directed its officials to submit a written undertaking every month that the cars are being used for official purposes only.

The decision had been been taken after it was observed that a few officers were using the official vehicles for commuting to office from their home and vice-versa, and at the same time were also claiming transport allowance.