‘Difficult to keep a check on agents’

Interview with V N More, transport commissioner. HT reports.

People consider RTOs to be hubs of corruption, teeming with middlemen. Comment.

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There are elements outside the RTOs who act as middlemen. We can control people inside the organisation, but it is very difficult to keep a check on these agents. What we need is general awareness.

We don’t want anybody to be a part of such illegal practices and approach middlemen. Usually, it is also the case that car dealers send their men for registering vehicles, since the owners don’t turn up. They are also mistaken for agents, though they aren’t.

What are you doing to curb corruption, especially when RTO staff is hand-in-glove with these agents?

People need to spend time if they want a driving licence, which they can get even without approaching an agent. If they face a problem, they can videotape their conversation with the staff and the agent, and submit it to higher authorities.

This will help us act against the guilty. People can also complain to senior officers at the RTO.

What should people do to avoid paying bribe?

People need not pay anything more than the specified amount. We are planning to install huge hoardings outside RTOs, asking people not to encourage middlemen. A complaint box, too, would be fixed at a location accessible to people.

They can also call on the helpline that is mainly used for complaints against taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers. Remember, once you clear the test, your permanent licence would be delivered at your address by post.