The High Court today directed defaulter vehicle owners to collect their fitness certificate from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) office in two months starting from August 1.

If any owner of the fitness defaulter does not collect fitness certificate by this time, those particular vehicles will not be allowed on the roads after September 30, the court said.

It directed the BRTA to issue a public notification and circulate advertisement through the print and electronic media informing about the directives.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam fixed October 15 for passing further order on this issue.

Earlier in the day, BRTA submitted a report to the HC informing that a total of 4,79,320 vehicles without fitness certificates are running on the roads across the country.

The vehicles are registered but their fitness clearance has expired, the report said.

BRTA's lawyer Advocate Rafiul Islam submitted the report to the High Court as per its June 24 order.

Among the vehicles, 2,61,113 are in Dhaka division, 1,19,588 in Chattogram division, 26,240 in Rajshahi, 6,588 in Rangpur, 15,668 in Khulna, 4,4805 in Sylhet and 5,338 in Barishal division, according to the BRTA report.

Unfit vehicles are considered as a key reason behind road crashes. Road safety came to the fore after students took to the streets twice over the last one year demanding safer roads.

In June 24, BRTA submitted a report before the HC during the hearing on a suo moto rule the court issued earlier.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam, receiving the report, asked the BRTA to submit a detailed report with more information on the unfit vehicles, including their registration numbers and owners, within a month.