Three RTO officials suspended over irregularities in issuance of driving licences

The Delhi government has suspended three motor licensing officers (MLOs) for “irregularities” in the issuance of driving licences, transport officials said Thursday.

The Delhi government has suspended three motor licensing officers (MLOs) for “irregularities” in the issuance of driving licences, transport officials said Thursday.

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The action came after the state transport department found an “abnormal rise” in the issuance of driving licences from the regional transport offices (RTOs) in New Delhi (IP depot), Vasant Vihar and Surajmal Vihar. The MLOs of these three RTOs were suspended on Wednesday by chief secretary Vijay Dev.

HT has seen a copy of the three suspension orders.

“We conducted inspections at all 10 RTOs in Delhi after receiving a few complaints, one of which was taken cognisance of by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It was found that these three RTOs, which in pre-Covid times used to issue the lowest number of driving licences, among all the zonal offices, suddenly showed a spike during the unlock period which began from June 8,” special commissioner (transport) KK Dahiya said.

Apart from colluding with touts, it was found that over 1,000 driving licences were issued from these RTOs over the past two months without conducting the mandatory video recording of the driving test given by applicants, the transport department said.

These three RTOs are among the five RTOs in Delhi which do not have an automated test track for applicants seeking a permanent driving licence.

RTOs in Sarai Kale Khan, Burari, Mayur Vihar, Wazirpur and Vishwas Nagar have automated test tracks, which make the entire process more comprehensive and stringent as it reduces manual intervention. Dahiya said the remaining five RTOs will have automated test tracks by the end of the year and no manual driving tests shall be allowed thereafter.

He further stated that prima facie, the investigation also shows that the SARATHI software, developed and maintained by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), could have been tampered with by certain “lower rung officials”.

The Delhi government has now also written to the NIC director general, seeking a vigilance inquiry into the matter.

“It has come to our notice that there were some gaps in the SARATHI software and there is a likelihood that the shortcomings in the software were shared with touts and applications of other zones were entertained at these places without any pin code restrictions… You are, therefore, requested to order a vigilance inquiry to ascertain whether the lapses in the software were genuine errors or the result of tampering by any of the NIC developers. Accountability should be fixed for this major lapse in the system,” read the letter sent to NIC by the state transport department.

The government has also urged the NIC to “replace” all NIC officials at its RTOs with new staffers in order to rule out the possibility of “connivance of any official at any level” and also to facilitate a fair inquiry.