Telangana Sets New Rules to Manage Road Safety Funds

What Happened

Telangana government issued comprehensive guidelines for managing and monitoring road safety funds at state and district levels, aiming to cut accidents. Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the order, G.O. Ms. No. 48, follows Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways rules. The road safety cess collected under the Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2026 now goes to the Telangana Road Safety (Non‑Lapsable) Fund. The State Road Safety Council, chaired by the Chief Minister and vice‑chaired by the Transport Minister, will supervise the fund. Online accounting will be rolled out to every district for real‑time tracking of receipts and spending. Both state and district accounts must be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and uploaded to the Union Ministry portal for the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety. District Collectors must set up District Road Safety Committees, hold monthly meetings, appoint dedicated coordinators and submit road safety plans. Police, health, roads, education departments and civic bodies are to name nodal officers for coordination. Agencies such as TG‑TMARS, NHAI, EMRI and others must send quarterly action reports to the Lead Agency for Road Safety. The Additional Director General of Police (Road Safety) office now falls under the State Road Safety Council.

Context

These steps aim to keep road safety money from being spent on unrelated projects and to improve coordination among many agencies, a common challenge in Indian states trying to lower traffic deaths.