AGARATALA, July 24 (TIWN): The state Transport Department is going to introduce online payment gateway to reduce pressure on road tax payment receiving offices, official sources said here today. Tripura is currently having over 2 lakh 30 thousand registered vehicles including two-wheelers, a highly placed source in the state Transport Department said. The source added that around 50 percent of the total vehicle traffic plying on the streets of Tripura. The source added that the State Bank of India was roped in as banking partner for the purpose. “Any SBI consumers having a Debit card or a credit card or those having online banking facility”, the source added.

The final project report is currently waiting for approval from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) authorities, the source informed. We are expecting to operationalize it before August 14 this year.

The Transport Department is currently operating an SMS alert among its modern technological facilities for vehicle owners. The facility allows for an alert to the concerned vehicle owner if any unauthorized removal or change of his registration is attempted, the source said.

The Department is also running a SMS service for vehicle owners to know the latest road permit status and pending tax amount through a toll-free number.