CP bars pvt contractors from towing vehicles

The police will take over the task of towing vehicles.

This might come as a major relief for citizens who have been complaining about harassment by private operators, who had been hired for the towing work.

Sources in the police commissionerate said that when police chief Arup Patnaik recently took stock of the towing vehicles, he found out that 94 towing vans and a Hippo crane (used to tow heavy vehicles) were lying unused for the past many years.
The police chief has ordered the traffic department to make use of the vehicles and pull out private operators from towing work.

“By the end of this month, all police towing vans should be functional,” said joint commissioner of police, administration, SP Yadav.

A few days ago, the commissioner met senior officers of the Motor Transport department of the city police and asked them to repair the towing vans.

“Earlier, we used to hire private towing van operators and their staff for towing work. They would make cases, load and unload vehicles and issue challans,” said a traffic police officer, requesting anonymity.

“They would get remunerations as per the cases made by them. Citizens used to be harassed by private towing van operators so that they would make cases against them. This is a major reason behind the police’s move to remove them from towing work,” he added.

As per the new service rules, police constables will drive towing vans. Earlier, there was a separate cadre of police drivers but since it was abolished in 2010, constables have been asked to perform their duties as drivers.

“Earlier, we used to pay private operators and their staff for their services but as the police will be handling the work, we will save money. Also since the police will be doing the entire towing work, there will no issues such as making false cases,” said a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.