MEERUT: The 22nd amendment of Central Motor Vehicles Rules was brought into action starting Friday with an exponential increase in fee of licence, driving test and fitness tests. The procedure of issuing of a driving licence including driving tests which used to cost Rs 250 will now cost Rs 500. This, however, will increase further by Rs 300 every time an individual sits for a repeat driving test.The amendment that was done on July 28, 2016 had invited objections in 30 days time but as no objections came they came into force on Friday i.e. on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.“The fee has been increased for the first time after 1989 and this is the reason that there is a huge gap between the old fee and the new fee. A learning licence that was earlier issued with a fee of Rs 30 has been increased to Rs 150 with an extra charge of driving test fee of Rs 50, which was not there at all earlier,” said Ranjeet Singh, assistant regional transport officer (administration).The other fee that has increased include issue of international driving permit from Rs 500 to Rs 1000, addition of another class of vehicle to driving licence from Rs 50 to Rs 100. While fee for renewal of driving licence will continue to be Rs 200, fee for renewal of driving licence for which application is made after the grace period has been increased from Rs 150 to Rs 300.As soon as the order reached the RTO department in Meerut at 2pm, all types of acceptance of fee for driving licence and other 27 categories were put on hold and the residents had to return home. It was only later that a fresh order reached to take fee by means of manual receipts that it was decided to continue the work as usual from Saturday onwards.“The new software will be updated by Monday and starting then the work can be carried out easily. As of now, an entire day will go in checking the changed amount so that no errors are made in manual acceptance of fee,” said Singh.The fee for conducting test of a vehicle for grant or renewal of certificate of fitness has been increased from Rs 60 to Rs 200 and Rs 400 (for motorcycles: manual and automated), from Rs 200 to Rs 400 and Rs 600 (for three wheelers or light motor vehicle or quadricycle: manual and automated) and from Rs 500 to Rs 600 and Rs 1000 (medium or heavy motor vehicle: manual and automated).