Illegal driving schools having free run in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Due to rampant corruption and negligent attitude of the officials of Road Transport Authority (RTA), scores of illegal motor driving schools are brazenly running in the city. It has become a norm that to get new licences "without any hassles," people are joining such schools and, as a result, there is a great demand for such schools.

To cash in on the trend, many illegal schools have sprung up; they do not bother about following the safety norms prescribed by the RTA. No proper training is being given by such schools, which leads to mishaps. Many schools do not possess proper safety mechanisms to teach driving skills, thus putting people's lives at risk.

M Dayanand, the general secretary of Telangana Auto and Motor Vehicle Welfare Union, said, "There are around 700 unauthorised driving schools functioning without renewing their licenses in the city. Every motor training school has to renew its licence every five years; however, many fail to do so and operate freely."

"Due to these practices, untrained and unskilled commercial drivers are coming out on city roads and accidents are increasing. People can even hurt themselves and others as well while taking lessons in driving," adds Dayananad.

Everything is online nowadays, so the RTA has data of every driving school. Then why aren't notices being sent to these schools and why any action is not taken on them, the union leader questions.

The union also alleges that several branches of the driving schools are run on a single licence. "A driving school with registered in Secunderabad runs many branches on the same license which is a clear violation but so far no action has been initiated," he concludes.  

STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE

The lockdown has hit the business of many motor driving schools. Purshottam Reddy, the owner of Sri Sai Motor Driving school, Punjagutta, relates, "Right now we are training around 8 to 10 people in a day, before lockdown it used to be around 25 to 30. Due to the fall in client numbers we are unable to sustain expenses like vehicle maintenance, vehicle sanitation, staff salaries and rent."

S Daniel of Danny Motor Training School, Ameerpet, says that they have to pay the debtors the pending installments within the next few months. "We do not know how we will be able to pull out from this crisis," he rues.