The shocking information has been revealed that with the help of brokers the RTO officials of Andheri RTO office are illegally giving license for passenger vehicles without taking DD (Demand Draft). To permit each passenger vehicle, it is necessary to pay Rs. 15,000 in the RTO office and thereafter a license is granted to that vehicle. However, it is now being revealed that the licenses have been given to the 3,000 vehicles without taking Rs. 15000 DD. Now RTO has started sending notices to these 3,000 vehicle owners to recover the amount.
Taxi and auto rickshaw drivers in Mumbai have to pay 15 thousand rupees in RTO office to get the permit for passenger vehicles. Since this process is a little complicated, the drivers take the help of brokers to get their work done in RTO. With the help of the RTO officials, these brokers manage to get the vehicle license by neglecting the rules & regulations. Only after taking the DD of 15 thousand rupees, the permit is given but with all this illegal activities many vehicles have got the license without paying the fee amount.
However, notices have been sent from the Andheri RTO office to these 3,000 taxi and auto rickshaw owners. Therefore these 3,000 owners have been troubled as they claimed that they have already paid the amount.
“The administrative error and red ink have created this mess. Licenses are issued to the vehicle owners under the state government’s ‘Free license policy’. Not only are the employees but the officers also responsible for this scam,” a senior official of the Andheri RTO told ‘My Mahanagar’ on the condition of anonymity.
So far 90 percent of the drivers have been given legal permits. However, 10 percent vehicle owners did not pay the permit the fee in the RTO office; the legal notices are sent to them. If they do not submit the DD on time, then their vehicle registration will be cancelled and strict action will be taken against them, said traffic officer Abhay Deshpande of Andheri RTO to ‘My Mahanagar’.
Every day large number of applicants comes for private and passenger vehicles license and other licenses. The brokers take the advantage of this to make more money from taxi and rickshaw drivers for RTO licenses. Due to all this illegal activities by brokers and RTO officials, the government is losing on huge revenue every day.
According to Swabhimani Taxi Rickshaw Association allegations, there is no name written on DD, there is only a code number on DD. Therefore 10 vehicles can also be passed on one DD itself. Because of the wrong policies of RTO, the number of brokers in RTO is increasing day by day. Therefore these associations have demanded an action to be taken against the officials who are misleading the government with the help of these brokers.
Instead of sending the notice to the taxi and rickshaw drivers, strict action should be taken against the responsible officers of Andheri RTO.
K. Tiwari, President, Swabhimani Taxi Rickshaw Association
There is no truth in allegations of ‘Swabhimani Sanghatana’. Those citizens who have not paid the permit charges after the registration of their vehicle, we have taken action and sent them notice according to the rules. After the registration, only with the stamp and signature of the Andheri RTO office, the payment for Permit is considered as authorized.
Abhay Deshpande, Regional Transport Officer, Andheri RTO
We have given license to those who have paid the fee. However, some of the drivers have not paid the license fees, so we have not given them a license. According to the law, we are sending them a notice.
Shekhar Channe, Transport Commissioner, Maharashtra State
