Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (MS)
Udupi, Feb 22: It has come to light that officers and brokers are swindling money from people who are getting their vehicles registered on the pretext of local address on the registration card.
According to rule, for new vehicle registration Aadhar card is mandatory. If the Aadhar card has the address of an outstation district or state, then the concerned vehicle owner has to provide one proof of local address like voter id, driving licence, first page of passbook etc. However, in the Regional Transport Office (RTO) of Udupi people have to pay money in order for the concerned officers to accept these documents as valid. New vehicle owners accuse that the officers make the public run from pillar to post if bribe is not given.
Udupi RTO (file photo)
There is misunderstanding regarding Aadhar card rule among the RTO officials themselves. Some say that it is mandatory while others say it is not mandatory. If an Aadhar card is not available, then the person has to provide valid local address proof. If the same cannot be provided, then the vehicle owner has to provide an affidavit to confirm the address. The present rule says that these all are accepted for vehicle registration. But the officials do not agree. Instead they say through brokers that if the specified bribe amount is not given by the vehicle owner, the vehicle cannot be registered.
According to the information that is available by people living around RTO office, which is adjacent to DC office, if bribe is given an Aadhar card with any outstation address and any other local address like first page of bank passbook is accepted.
If the vehicle owner is from another district in the state, he or she has to pay Rs 1,000 as bribe. If they are from outstation states then Rs 2,000 needs to be paid. No receipt is given for this amount. So it is considered illegal. According to the present situation people who want to register their vehicles and even vehicle showrooms have to pay the bribe in order to get the vehicles registered. If they do not pay bribes, they have to wait for months together for registration of the vehicle. In addition, it is also gathered that the RTO officials make the general public frustrated by asking them to come several times in order to get their vehicle registration done if they do not pay a bribe. So most of the people just cough up the money and get the work done rather than face the harassment.
When some senior officers queried on this issue they say that there is no rule of Aadhar card mandatory for vehicle registration. They also confirmed that if an Aadhar card is available, there is no need for any other document proof. However, if there are other documents to prove the local address they are also acceptable.
When queried whether Aadhar card needs to have a local address, the officials at RTO say that there is no need that the Aadhar card should be of local address. Any district or any state for that matter of our country is acceptable. There is no need to pay extra money for that.
This unwritten rule has made it convenient for the officials of RTO and their middlemen to earn thousands of rupees every day without any effort. Brokers have to pay the officials based on the files that they are submitting. If the owners come directly to get their vehicles registered, it has come to light that there is a system to inform the same to the concerned officers.
Gangadhar, RTO of Udupi says, "Aadhar card is mandatory for vehicle registration. Aadhar card with address of any district or state is acceptable. There is no issue. There is no need to pay extra money for the same."