Shortcut to driving licence

At a time, when the state Transport Department has made carrying of original licence mandatory for motorists, in an effort to curb accidents as per the Supreme Court directive, another major issue concerning issuance of drivers’ licence has come into focus. Many private driving schools allegedly flout the norms and procure licence for their customers, from Regional Transport Offices (RTO), by bribing the officials.

Sources say that many applicants, who join private driving schools do not take the driving test since such schools depend on touts to speed up the works.

Although such candidates appear for the test, the officials allegedly ‘help’ pass in the examination. Only a few applicants are shown as having failed the test, in order to ensure that senior officers do not become suspicious of the pass rate.

Sources further say that many people who know driving well, but do not have a valid driving licence approach middlemen, who charge a hefty amount to help files ‘move quickly.’ These middlemen have links with staff in the RTOs and they know everyone, from the subordinate staff to the higher-ups. “Such atrocities by touts have reached a peak. They fleece applicants, who want to get their work done fast and at one go and force the officials to expedite the work,” a transport department official said.

The modus operandi appears to be quit simple. A Kanagaraj (name changed), who runs a driving school in Guindy said, “We have package system. If customers approach us for two-wheeler licenses, we charge Rs 2,500, while it is anywhere between Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 if one wants both, the two-wheeler and four-wheeler licences.” The owner of the driving school casually let drop that they assure the clients that the driving test would be simple.

However, they teach the candidates to drive the vehicles as per procedure, after which the school sends their application to the RTO to get the licence.

Most of those who fail on the first attempt go back on the eighth day. The premise behind the ‘rule’ is to give the candidate a week’s time to perfect his driving skills, he added.

“I know driving well and I wanted to apply for licence . When I went to RTO, I saw some people staring at me. Later, one of them came to me and asked whether I wanted to take a license. He also revealed that he had links with the staff working in the RTO and demanded Rs 1,500,” said T John, a private firm employee in Vadapalani. However, he declined the offer and applied directly at the RTO. It took 40 days to even get the Learner’s Licence (LLR).

“I had to run from pillar to post to get the driving licence,” he added.

The Transport Department has 14 RTOs in the city and an average of 100 applicants appear for a driving test every day at every RTO, out of which about 700 of them do not pass the test, said an official. It may be noted that the government instructed the RTOs two years ago to ensure a failure rate of at least 10 per cent from the total candidates taking their driving test.