Can’t drive? Pay Rs. 2,000 for a licence in capital

Walk into any zonal transport office in the city and the tout is king. They rush to your assistance and get your job done in minutes — for a fee, of course — an HT team that visited several offices found. HT reports.

Walk into any zonal transport office in the city and the tout is king. They rush to your assistance and get your job done in minutes — for a fee, of course — an HT team that visited several offices found.

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Bypassing them and doing it right just means standing in long queues and a lot of hassle.

At the Sheikh Sarai office, a driving licence comes for just Rs. 2,000 — and you don’t even have to take a driving test. “You need to pay Rs. 1,000 now for a learner’s licence and the rest after a month, when you apply for a permanent licence. No need to take a driving test. You just have to come here for the biometrics,” said one tout who approached us.

If you don’t have the necessary documents — such as a medical certificate — they take care of that too, for a little more money.

“If you try to apply on your own, the possibility is your application will be rejected for one reason or the other. It is better to go through touts,” said Devendra Gupta (name changed), who’d come to the Loni Road office for a learner’s licence.

“The major share of the money we get from the applicant goes to the staff. The senior officers are aware of everything,” said a tout at the Sarai Kale Khan office.