42 driver licences issued illegally at RTO in one week

GOVT ORDERS PROBE TO CHECK IF SIMILAR RACKETS RUNNING FROM OTHER 12 RTOS

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s transport department has stumbled upon a possible racket in which at least 42 permanent driving licences (PDLS) were issued illegally within a span of one week from the regional transport office (RTO) at east Delhi’s Surajmal Vihar.

Following the revelations, the department has initiated an investigation to find out whether such malpractices are happening in the 12 other RTOS across Delhi.

“More than 40 PDLS were issued from the RTO at Surajmal Vihar in July end. We found out about the case only this month during routine checks of applications,” said Anil Chhikara, the licensing officer at the Surajmal Vihar RTO.

A senior transport official said three junior-level employees posted at the RTO misused the login id and password of the motor vehicle inspector (MVI), who was on leave during the period. “Of the three officers involved in the case, two were working as data entry operators and one was their supervisor. Even the applications of these 42 DLS are missing from files,” the officer said.

After a meeting this week, the transport commissioner issued an order stating that log-in ids and passwords will now be changed on a weekly basis.

As per the rules, only MVIS and licensing officers have the authority to issue permanent driving licenses in Delhi. The state transport authority receives around 5 lakh applications for learner’s licence every year out of which around 3 lakh are approved.

The transport department’s enforcement team is going through video tapes to see if the applicants were given tests.

The transport department, however, said the three men were employees of the Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS), a company in which the Delhi government has 50% stake. The DIMTS said it has terminated the employment of the three employees.