RTO runs out of smart cards

Owners of new vehicles have to wait for over two months to get them registered because the regional transport office (RTO) has run out of smart cards given as registration certificates.

Similar is the fate of all those who have applied for transfer of ownership - either because of vehicles changing hands or getting the hypothecation tags off the registration documents.

"The situation is same across the state. As far as the queue of individuals seeking new registration certificate books is concerned, there are at least 11,000 people in waiting for over three months," deputy regional transport officer Jayant Patil said.

He said the problem rose because the vendor who has been given the contract to prepare, print and supply the cards was importing those from a manufacturer in China. "It takes some time for the card to reach. Besides, it's a state-wide problem and the shortage is being felt everywhere. Senior officials in the department are aware of the problem," he added.

Patil, however, said the RTO, Nashik had received a consignment of 1,000 cards, which would be processed and posted to the respective customers.

"We are in receipt of some cards - about 1,000 in numbers. Those are being signed and posted. We will get another batch of nearly 3,000 cards. These cards would be ready to be delivered in a matter of three-to-four days. We hope that our office will be in a position to clear the outstanding rush within two weeks," the officer said.

Kishor Rahane, a resident of Nashik Road, said, "I had taken a bank loan to buy my car. I have cleared the loan and applied to get hypothecation mark off in February. But I am yet to receive any communication from the Ceramic tile."

The department had outsourced the job of computerizing records of registration documents and driving licences and issuing fresh registration documents and driving licences to a consortium as part of a public-private partnership.

The private vendor has set up the necessary infrastructure and the manpower to do the job and gets a share of the revenue. For every new driving licence and a registration certificate, a fee of Rs 200 and Rs 350 is collected, respectively. The vendor gets a share of Rs 83 in each driving licence issued. There is no vendor's share in the issuance of the registration certificate, the official said.

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