Telangana: Smart cards’ dispatch delayed as Transport Authority fails to pay postal charges

HYDERABAD:  The non-payment of postal charges by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to the department concerned is affecting the dispatch of smart cards (registration card and driving licence), thus keeping the applicants waiting endlessly.

In spite of applicants paying Rs 200 as a service charge for a two-wheeler RC and Rs 400 each for a four-wheeler and another Rs 35 towards postal charges, the RTA is failing to make the payments regularly to the postal department.

According to sources, it is taking more than a month for applicants to receive their smart card by post, against the normal two days after paying the postal charges to the department. RTA pays Rs 17 per card plus Rs 1 for the cover to the postal department to dispatch the card.

As applicants are not receiving the card in time, it has become problematic for those who need to cross the State borders and produce the documents at check-posts. Moreover, during the police checks, authorities demand the RC and driving license, which would otherwise impose penalties.

When TNIE tried to contact RTA senior officials, they did not respond. It was learnt that the delay by RTA towards the payment of charges is impacting the dispatch of cards. With this, many cards are lying in the RTA offices. On average, each office in Greater Hyderabad prints 500 smart cards daily.

Some applicants who urgently need RC and driving license cards are relying on brokers and paying them Rs 500 to print them. “It has been a month since I applied for my driving license and yet I have not received the card. I am finding it difficult to drive my two-wheeler without having a card as there are multiple checks by traffic police in the city,” said an applicant at the Khairatabad RTA office.

Telangana Auto and Motor Welfare Union General Secretary M Dayanand said that the transport department is yet to become citizen friendly as there are always some or other problems in the department.