TN Secretariat staff under radar over UPI bribe to dispatch fancy vehicle numbers

CHENNAI: Even as the TVK-led government has intensified its crackdown on corruption, office assistants at the Home Department in the Secretariat are allegedly facilitating the allotment of fancy vehicle registration numbers by demanding payments through digital platforms such as Google Pay.

The straightforward process for vehicle owners seeking special registration numbers and other VIP combinations is to submit applications through the office of the Transport Minister. After approval, the Home Department (Motor Vehicles Act - administration), which oversees the Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety, allots the requested registration number and dispatches the allotment order by post.

However, officials familiar with the process allege that the sealed covers with the allotment orders are being intercepted before they reach applicants.

According to sources, the sealed covers are brought from the Transport Department to the Home Department at the Secretariat, where office assistants allegedly open them, scan the documents and obtain the applicants’ contact details.

“The staff then contact the applicants and allegedly demand money through Google Pay. The allotment order is dispatched only after the payment is confirmed,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

Sources alleged that unofficial cash transactions were common during the previous regime, but now the mode of payment has shifted to digital, with Google Pay becoming the preferred platform for collecting illegal gratification. Officials said that, if proven, the practice would amount to serious misconduct, as the allotment of fancy numbers is governed by prescribed procedures and should not involve any unauthorised payments beyond the notified fee. At present, vehicle registration numbers are allotted randomly during registration.

Vehicle owners seeking a specific number within 1,000 numbers of the running series can obtain it from the RTO by paying the prescribed fee. For registration numbers beyond the running series, future series numbers and government-reserved fancy numbers, prior approval from the State government is mandatory.