CHENNAI: If you know how to drive but don’t have a car with which to take your driving test, the Tamil Nadu government has a plan to relieve you of your dependence on driving schools to obtain the licence. The transport department will be procuring 145 cars to be used by applicants during the driving test.
A total of Rs 6.25 crore has been allocated for the purchase of a car for each of the 91 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and 54 unit offices, revealed documents presented by Transport Minister S S Sivasankar in Assembly recently. The cars at the RTOs may be used only to avail driving licence for non-transport light motor vehicles.
The move follows complaints of rampant corruption involving transport department employees, driving schools and touts at RTOs. Driving schools collect Rs 7,500-10,000 to provide a person with driving lessons and assist in obtaining a DL. The fees include bribes paid to RTO staff, touts and others.
“Nearly 40 to 50% of four-wheeler applicants, who apply through driving schools, already possess driving skills. They opt to apply through schools primarily as they do not own a car. To address this, RTOs will provide cars to applicants to complete tests,” said a senior transport official.
At present, two-wheeler DL applicants, with or without gear, complete tests and receive the licence after applying through the vahan software online without paying any bribes. “We are looking to establish a similar system to obtain four-wheeler DLs. Applicants may be charged a nominal fee to use the car at the RTO for the driving test,” added the official.
Move to benefit people who moved to TN
The move will bring huge relief to individuals, who have moved here from other states. To take the driving test at present, applicants must provide a pollution certificate, registration certificate, and proof of car insurance for the vehicle being used. If the vehicle is registered in another state, a NOC from the RTO is also required.
Further, there should be no outstanding penalty challan against the vehicle to be used for the driving test. In August last year, 37 smart cards of registration certificates were stolen from the Tambaram RTO allegedly due to a feud among a section of transport employees in giving preferential treatment to touts attached to a few driving schools.
An FIR was registered and five employees were suspended. The incident prompted the transport department to introduce a new system for issuing driving licences in September last year to minimise the influence of touts. As per the new system, driving tests for the general public are conducted on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays and for applicants trained through driving schools on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Although the changes benefit a section of the general public, it has not produced the anticipated results. This is largely due to the dependence of applicants on driving schools for cars. Until September last year, applications submitted directly by applicants and those received through driving schools were processed together for driving tests.
The general public was often subjected to harassment and intentionally failed the driving test. S Sankar of TNHB colony, Korattur said, “Driving schools promise to allow us to drive for 20 to 25 days initially, but end up permitting us to drive for only five to 10 days."
"Even if an applicant fails the test, he/she is granted a licence when applied through the driving school.”
Official data indicate that 60,000 new driving licences, including for two-wheelers, four-wheelers, and other categories, are issued each month throughout the state.