HYDERABAD: Applicants seeking online services from the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) are facing significant inconvenience due to issues with receiving OTPs and messages, leading to long wait times at the offices. This inconvenience comes after paying service charges, which can amount to above Rs 300 depending on the transaction type.
The RTA’s reliance on an outdated server has resulted in frequent technical glitches, unable to cope with the surge in users and transactions involving two-wheelers, four-wheelers and driving licences across the 33 districts, many allege.
When attempting to book slots for vehicle registration, learners’ licence, permanent registration and other transactions, users experience delays of up to one or two hours to receive OTPs due to the slow server. Moreover, some users are not receiving important messages about their vehicle and driving licence registration numbers.
Several years ago, online services came to a halt due to server issues, forcing users to wait for days to avail of the services. Despite RTA boasting over 50 online services, including driving licence, vehicle registration, renewals and slot bookings, the current server’s limitations hinder them from providing efficient service to motorists.
The general secretary of the Telangana Auto and Motor Welfare Union, M Dayanand, raised concerns about the transport department’s failure to upgrade the servers for many years, resulting in persistent technical glitches. “While the RTA is collecting service charges from the users, why can’t it place an order for the new servers to provide hassle-free transactions to the users,” he questioned.