RC, driving license issuance getting delayed due to smart card shortage

Hyderabad: Shortage of smart cards by Road Transport Authority offices is leading to delay in dispatching vital documents like Registration Certificate (RC) causing inconvenience to the commuters in the city. There are eleven RTA offices spread across twin cities and the problem persists in all the branches.

The smart cards are used in new RC cards, driving licenses, C-books, duplicate licenses and renewal cards. Sources in the Transport Department said that the RTAs print at least about 400 cards per day but there is a delay because of the shortage. There is a delay of 15 days for issuing the RC cards. The existing stock of cards would be exhausted by this month end. 

As per the Citizen’s Charter, the transport department should deliver the driving license card within a day, which is not happening since the RTA is owing debt to the third party smart card vendors. A commuter at the registration office Tolichowki Mohammed Imtiaz said, “My RC card was delayed for about 10 days, traffic police is not accepting the payment slip but the delay is from the office.”