E-Paper
Ludhiana residents fume at delay in getting driving licences, RC books
The issue of delayed issuance of RCs and driving licenses is not limited to Ludhiana alone but is a widespread problem across the entire state
The residents of the city have been enduring significant hardships due to prolonged delays in receiving their registration certificates (RCs) and driving licences.
Despite making repeated visits to the transport department, the applicants are still unable to obtain these essential documents, causing immense frustration and inconvenience.
As per the transport department, due to acute shortage in smart cards, the wait has been prolonged.
The issue of delayed issuance of RCs and driving licenses is not limited to Ludhiana alone but is a widespread problem across the entire state.
The state transport department has acknowledged that there are approximately 70,000 pending files of applicants from all over Punjab.
Kuldeep Singh, a local resident, shared his ordeal of purchasing a new car over four months ago. Despite obtaining approvals for his RC application from the regional transport authority in Ludhiana, the document has still not been delivered to him even after two weeks have passed.
Expressing his frustration, Gagandeep, another resident, stated that he has been waiting for his fresh license for the past fifteen days. Despite visiting the RTA office multiple times, he has not received any updates on the status of his license. He expressed uncertainty about when he would finally receive his license.
According to the residents, the local officials are not taking responsibility for the delays and are instead passing the buck to the higher authorities at the headquarters.
Other applicants who had visited the regional transport office to inquire about the status of their applications also reported similar problems.
According to the state transport commissioner, Moneesh Kumar, the issue lies with the smart chip companies, who cite a shortage of chips due to global factors.
However, Kumar has ordered the companies to procure the chips and expedite the pending work. He added that the companies responsible for the delays will be subject to penalties for their failure.
Kumar stated that residents have the option of downloading their RCs and driving licenses from DigiLocker. He further explained that he had recently met with senior traffic officials, who have decided to recognise the validity of these documents if produced during an inspection by any enforcement agency.
