New vehicle owners in a fix

Hyderabad: Shortage of smart cards is daunting new vehicle owners as they are forced into prolonged delay in issuance of vehicle Registration Certificates (RC). There are over 2.5 lakhs customers who are waiting for the issuance of RC’s. “I applied for RC renewal about two months ago thereafter I was said that I would be receiving it within a week, I did not receive any card by now. It is getting difficult for me to travel, as there are constant police checks and I don’t have any proof to validate my expired RC,” said a marketing agent, Prashith Reddy. 

Failure of RTA to pay off dues to the contractor who supplies smart cards is leading to prolonged delay in RCs in the city since past two months. Vehicle owners are annoyed by RTA the services as they are unable to drive their vehicles on the road legally. In recent past some of the offices in the city were given 1,000 - 1,500 cards each, which could not even fulfill a ten per cent of pending cards. Eleven RTA offices in the city print about two to four-hundred smart cards every day and the cards are supposed to be dispatched within a day and is expected to reach the vehicle owner within a week. But new vehicle owners are kept longing for months now. 

Smartcards share a crucial role in terms of registration, transfer of ownership, finance hypothecation, duplication RC issuance and any delay in issuance is leading to complete chaos.  “I bought my car about three months ago my vehicle was registered in June, and still I have not received my smart card,” said a businessman, Mohan Agarwal.