Bhubaneswar | Vehicle location tracking (VLT) devices were made mandatory for all commercial vehicles, except three-wheelers, in Odisha, officials said on Friday.

The decision was taken by the State Transport Authority (STA) for the safety of passengers, especially women and children, they said.

All categories of new commercial vehicles, including buses, taxis, goods vehicles and ambulances, will need to have VLT devices with panic buttons from October 1. These devices will have to be installed at the time of registration, officials said.

For old vehicles, the deadline to install these devices is December 31, they said.

If VLT devices are not fitted to the new vehicles, they will not be registered. In case the old vehicles do not have these devices within the stipulated time, their owners will not be able to make any transactions on the Vahan site from January 1.

For the development, management and operation of the VLT application, the STA signed an agreement with BSNL in October last year.