The transport department has taken some steps to curb the ‘toto menace’ in the state, State Transport Minister Snehasish Chakraborty announced on Friday. According to this latest announcement, totos must have number plates mandatorily.
A meeting was held at the district magistrate's office on Monday regarding toto registration in Jhargram, along with toto routes, stands and several other issues. In this meeting, a decision was taken to create ward-wise toto stands in the city. The toto registration process also began from this day.
Present at the meeting were Jhargram District Magistrate Sunil Agarwal, Additional District Magistrate (General) Gobinda Datta, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shubhrajit Gupta, DSP Traffic Amir Sohel, Municipality Chairman Kabita Ghosh, Jhargram RTO Amitkumar Datta along with members of Jhargram's toto unions. The meeting discussed bringing all totos in the district under the transport department.
The registration process began from this day through the TTEN (Temporary Toto Enrollment Number) portal. The portal will open at this link: https://tten-wb.in/. Toto registration will be in two parts.
Totos from government-recognized companies will get number plates after registration. On the other hand, totos from Chinese companies will be given enrollment numbers after registration. A fee of ₹1740 has been fixed for registration, including fee, tax, road permit and computer fee. Toto drivers will have to pay ₹100 per month as road tax.
Licensing arrangements have also been made for toto drivers. Like motorbikes and cars, drivers will have to apply to the transport department and get licenses made for totos as well. Jhargram District Transport Department official Amitkumar Datta said, "Toto registration must be completed by November 30. If there are any problems, contact us directly. Licensing arrangements have also been made for toto drivers. Like motorbikes and cars, drivers will have to apply to the transport department and get licenses made for totos as well. Jhargram District Transport Department official Amitkumar Datta said, "Toto registration must be completed by November 30. If there are any problems, contact us directly.”
There are 748 totos under the municipality's temporary registration in the Jhargram municipal area. The municipality collects ₹300 per toto annually for registration. Toto unions complain that there are around a thousand to 1200 totos in the city. Monday's meeting also discussed specific routes and stands for totos. It was decided to create toto stands at Shiva temple junction, college junction, hospital junction and one in each ward of the city.
District Magistrate Sunil Agarwal said, "A decision has been taken to have specific routes for totos and designated toto stands in each ward to avoid traffic jams. Besides, stands will be created at important places in the city. Necessary instructions have been given to the municipality for this. Traffic jams will reduce once designated toto stands are created."
