Lack of testing tracks leaves licence seekers in lurch

​Hyderabad: The five testing tracks for testing the abilities of the driver before he is issued a driving licence is not sufficient to meet the requirements of 11 RTA offices within the GHMC limits.

As a result, people who book slots online are being made to wait for at least two weeks before they could appear for the driving test.

There are 11 RTA offices in the GHMC limits but all these offices do not have testing tracks. Delay in getting the slot for driving test sometimes is resulting in the learners' licence holders lose the validity of the learners' licence forcing them to go through the process once again.

Officials said the applicants from Khairatabad and Mehdipatnam RTA offices are asked to take up tests at Kondapur. This centre is always crowded with motorists coming for the test.

The rush increases during the weekends when IT companies have holidays. The other tracks are at Uppal, Nagole, Ibrahimpatnam and Medchal.

With tracks far away from the city, the applicants have to spend entire day to get their work done and this is making them approach middlemen who get them licences faster.

According to officials, on an average the 11 RTA offices get about 1,500 to 1,700 applications for learner’s licence and the number has gone up in the recent times because of the drive of traffic police.

With more number of applicants coming, the waiting time for the slot has become more than two weeks. Sources said if testing track could be set up at Bandlaguda RTA office, which has lot of space to cater to the needs of residents from Old City.

On an average, about 75 applications come from Old City every day. Joint transport commissioner B Venkateshwarlu said availability of open spaces was the biggest constraint for the department testing tracks. We are in process of setting up of testing track at Malakpet, he added.