HYDERABAD: On the first day of resumption of services, post lockdown relaxations announced by the State government, the number of fresh applications received at the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices remained below expectations on Monday. Though the authorities were expecting to a large number of applications on the first day of the week, the new vehicle registrations were mostly in single digits at various offices.
For instance, the RTA-West Zone office at Tolichowki received just six applications for new vehicle registrations. It received a total of 59 applications as against the 180 slots available on the day. Amongst other applications received include learner’s licence (35), driving licence (15) and others (3). Similar was the situation at RTA-Central Zone in Khairtabad where a total of 125 applications were received, majority of which were for driving licence renewals whereas the new vehicle registrations were only 12 by the time counters were closed for the day.
Meanwhile, with the objective of increasing revenue and overcome the impact of lockdown, the department will be tweaking the number of slots currently reserved for each service. It is believed that the officials will soon be deciding on increasing the slot bookings for some services and reducing for others to ensure good revenue generation.
According to official sources, the online applications submitted between May 12 and 30 would be cleared in a phased manner in the coming days. “Those who applied between this period need not worry as messages would be sent to them in the coming days,” said an official. The day turned chaotic at a few offices as some of the applicants were asked to come by 12.30 pm.