WARANGAL: Hundreds of vehicle owners in the erstwhile Warangal districts are driving without registration certificates (RCs) and licences as the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices are unable to issue them due to severe shortage of smart cards.
In the last three months, hundreds of people have been turning up at RTA offices in their respective districts, seeking to know the status of their driving licences and registration cards, which were supposed to be dispatched by speed post. This is despite them clearing the required tests for obtaining driving licences or submitting all the documents needed for issuance of RCs.
This issue is prevalent at all RTA offices in Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural and Jayashankar Bhupalpally districts as well as Mulugu. The last mentioned district does not have an RTA office of its own and hence the people there had to face an additional hassle of travelling to Bhupalpally for their requirements.
Many citizens complain that they are yet to receive their RCs or licences months after clearing the tests or submitting their applications. P Nagi Reddy, a resident of Kashibugga in Hanamkonda, said: “My new vehicle registration process was completed by the RTA officials more than two months ago. The vehicle registration details can be seen online, but till now I haven’t received the printed copy by post. I have visited the RTA office several times. Some officials say the smart card printing machine is under repair and some say there is a shortage of smart cards. I don’t know what do.”
When Express contacted Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC) P Purushotham, he admitted that there is a shortage of smart cards. He, however, added: “There is a shortage of smart cards at RTA offices across the State. This problem will be resolved soon.”Meanwhile, some RTA officials have been suggesting people to download soft copies from the ‘RTA m-Wallet’ or Telangana RTA portal service.
“Their suggestion is good as it provides a temporary solution. But how can we expect people in rural areas of Mulugu, Bhupalpally and Mahbubabad districts who have no access or the knowledge about the online services to download the soft copies,” wondered one of the several concerned citizens gathered at the RTA office in Warangal.