JAGATSINGHPUR: Vehicle owners here have accused two officials of indulging in corrupt practices while issuing licences to them. Despite being informed about the same, the district adminstration has not taken action against the officials, they said.According to the locals, some brokers are also involved in the act. Besides collecting bribe for paper works at RTO, medical certificates are issued by forging the signature of assistant surgeon and charging anything between `50 and `100.
“The clerk collects `500 for registration of two-wheelers and `1,500 for four- wheelers from the showroom owners with the help of brokers. He also accepts `200 as bribe for providing licence for motorcycles, `400 for light motor vehicle and `750 for heavy vehicles. More than 1,000 vehicle owners are yet to receive their licences since last November as they have refused to pay bribe,” locals alleged.One of the victims, Sukdev Sahoo, alleged that he was harassed by the clerk for at least four months when he tried getting his vehicle registered with the department. “As my vehicle was not registered, I had to pay fines imposed by traffic personnel,” he added.
Meanwhile, locals sought the intervention of the Collector, the Commissioner of Transport department and other higher officials to end the corrupt practices in the office.Contacted, Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Sachidananda Sahoo said the administration had not yet received any allegation in this regard.“If we are informed about the same, we will conduct probe and take steps against such irregularities,” he added.