No RCs to 20,000 vehicle owners

No RCs to 20,000 vehicle owners
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Highlights

The shortage of smart cards haunts the owners of new vehicles for over three months. Almost from mid-June, the Road Transport Authorities (RTA) in the state were unable to issue Registration Certificates (RCs) to the vehicle owners. Till now, 20,000 cards have to be issued in Chittoor district only for which registrations were already completed.

Tirupati: The shortage of smart cards haunts the owners of new vehicles for over three months. Almost from mid-June, the Road Transport Authorities (RTA) in the state were unable to issue Registration Certificates (RCs) to the vehicle owners. Till now, 20,000 cards have to be issued in Chittoor district only for which registrations were already completed.

Highlights:

  • Delay in issuing RCs due to shortage of smart cards
  • Owners of new vehicles are unable to commute to other states in the absence of RCs

The entire process has come to a standstill with the shortage of smart cards. Vehicle owners could not get a proper reply from the RTA officials as they too were in dark over the problem. However, sources on condition of anonymity said that the Andhra Pradesh Technology Services (APTS) has to provide smart cards to all RTAs based on their indents on quarterly basis. It seems they have not yet initiated the tender process this year. However, the number of vehicle registrations were on rise continuously despite non-supply of empty smart cards for months together.

The Transport department collects Rs 200 from every vehicle owner for issuing a RC. Even after collecting Rs 40 lakh, the officials are unable to issue the RCs. The RC is a smart card which contains entire information about the vehicle. It is a basic document of ownership of a vehicle. In case of checking of the vehicle by police, they will ask for the RCs.

Many vehicle owners could not commute to other states with the fear of police and RTA staff in those states might seize the vehicle for not having RCs. The Transport department officials, however, arguing that, even the RC in digital form is not there, the paper RC is enough which is equal to digital one.

A owner of a four-wheeler Sreenivasulu, who bought a vehicle for taxi purpose in August said that police or transport staff in other states won’t agree paper RCs and they insist for digital RC only. “Even though I bought the vehicle I could not go to Chennai or Bengaluru for this reason,” he explained.

Normally, the RC has to reach the concerned owner within one week of registration. In Tirupati itself, around 200 cards were required everyday out of which 150 for new registrations. Therefore, the waiting list to get the RCs is increasing continuously every day. Even if the smart cards come now it takes months to clear the backlog. One person waiting for RC for his two-wheeler blamed the government’s apathy in this issue.

“What the government is doing? Can’t they provide even smart cards well in time,” he asked. Speaking to The Hans India, District Transport Commissioner (DTC) Ch Prathap, said that the problem was conveyed to higher authorities. Soon after the empty smart cards reach them then they will clear entire backlog as early as possible. In the meantime, the paper RC issued at the showroom is valid as equal to original RC and there would be no problem, DTC clarified.

By V Pradeep Kumar

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