Jose K Joseph
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 1: Right under the very nose of state transport department officials at least 19,000 autorickshaw drivers are doing brisk business in the capital city without the mandatory transport licence with them.
Assistant road transport officer (ARTO) Nilakantha Pradhan in-charge of BBSR-I region said he is aware of the situation. ‘‘We have fined several auto drivers sans the transport licences. However, we do not have adequate man-power to tackle this situation effectively. The Bhubaneswar I RTO office has one inspector but the RTO office Bhubaneswar II (BBSR-II) does not have an officer to deal with the situation,” said Pradhan.
As per available data, of the 20,000 auto drivers in the city, only 500 have the mandatory transport licence (Cab licence) to operate passenger vehicles and a majority of them possess non-transport licences.
When contacted by
Orissa POST, Bhubaneswar Auto Mahasangha president Padman Kumar Samal gave various angles to the story.
“A majority of auto drivers do not have transport licence (cab licence) because they are not comfortable with computer slot examination to pass driving test. A written test instead of an online examination would have helped many pass the driving skill exam. Moreover, many auto operators are illiterate and do not have the mandatory class VIII pass certificate,” said Samal.
However, some drivers on condition of anonymity told
Orissa POST it is easy to pass these exams provided you are willing to pay `3,000 to the agents. Thus, the whole system has been turned out to be a gambling pool for some corrupt officials.
Investigations by Orissa POST have also exposed grave violation of norms in the transportation sector requiring firm action to weed out graft.
Approximately, 10-15 per cent of autos do not possess valid documents like registration certificate, fitness certificate and insurance papers among others. Unfortunately, 40 per cent of autos operating in the capital do not possess fitness certificates.
RTO officials, meanwhile, said there is scope for periodic renewal of these documents. “RTO office first issues a two-year fitness certificate to new autos. Afterwards, the certificate has to be renewed annually. If the fitness application is submitted well before 30 days from the expiry date, the fee is Rs 200 and afterwards it is Rs 500,” Bhubaneswar RTO Lal Mohan Sethy told Orissa POST.
According to Motor Vehicle Rule 1988, there are two types of licences – transport and non transport. The driver of an auto-rickshaw must possess a transport licence to ferry passengers and a non-transport licence is for the driver of a personal vehicle. Requirements like, completion of 18 years of age, VIII grade pass certificate, medical fitness certificate and a pass in computer slot exam are required for the transport licence.
However, in the case of a non transport licence, a driver is not required to pass VIII grade certificate. This is why a majority of auto drivers manage to obtain non-transport licence. The official rule mandates that driver of an autotaxi vehicle must possess a transport licence. The norm also classifies the driver of taxi having less than seven seats as ‘cab licence’ holder.
Every day, more than 19,000 autos operate through the capital flouting motor vehicle department rules and the officials watch the show helplessly in the absence of adequate staff to curb the menace.