Mumbai: The Opposition in Maharashtra on Saturday raised the alleged scam of Andheri Regional Transport Office issuing 76,000 dubious driving licences ostensibly without conducting proper driving tests on authorised vehicles in the state Assembly here.
Referring to the issue in detail, Congress’ Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar and state unit chief Nana F. Patole alleged a massive scam of Rs 125 crore in the Andheri RTO which issued the said driving licences (DLs).
After the submissions by Patole and Wadettiwar, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar directed the state government to take serious note of the matter and initiate appropriate action.
The matter came to light in the Maharashtra Accountant General Audit II during a test check of 1.04 lakh licences through the online data of SARATHI regarding the processing of applications for DLs after conducting the mandatory driving test of the applicants.
The random audit brought out some shocking details — of the 1.04 lakh licences scrutinised, 76,354 DLs, or nearly 75 per cent, were issued in 2023-2024 with suspect driving tests conducted on invalid vehicles.
The matter was first highlighted by IANS (June 28, ‘Licence to kill? Mumbai RTO audit says 76K DLs issued on fake driving tests’), following a tip-off by social worker Binu Varghese, sparking a major debate in the social and political circles of the state.
Waddetiwar said it was shocking how thousands of DLs were issued on just two two-wheelers and two four-wheelers, pointing to an alleged scam as thousands of rupees are charged per licence by the department that is handled directly by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
“The Andheri RTO issued 76,354 driving licences for cars, trucks, buses, and cranes on the basis of alleged tests taken on a two-wheeler…How is this possible,” Wadettiwar asked.
Meanwhile, Patole said the state Cabinet has not been expanded and ministers are handling multiple portfolios to which they cannot pay attention.
“It was shocking that this was going on in the department handled by the CM himself,” he said.
“The matter raised by the Leader of Opposition is grave and should not be discarded… If a person has tested only for a two-wheeler and is issued a DL for a crane or a bus, the matter is indeed serious. This will lead to accidents and deaths, all because of corruption,” Patole said.
Wadettiwar claimed that for each DL, Rs 30,000-40,000 changed hands and there could be a scam of over Rs 125 crore in the Andheri RTO alone, while there are 53 more RTOs all over Maharashtra.
He pointed out that many accidents take place daily on the roads, citing the figures of 2022 when there were over 33,000 road accidents in the state that claimed more than 15,000 lives, while 54 per cent of all road crashes involved two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
Wadeyyiwar also claimed that the government’s attitude seems to be clear – “You pay us money, and take your licence”, but nobody is bothered about the accidents on the roads and the loss of innocent lives.
The audit data showed details of how two two-wheelers and two cars were used repeatedly for conducting tests for different categories of vehicles, ranging from scooters to cranes, on which the 76,354 questionable DLs were issued.
While 41,093 DLs were issued on tests conducted on the two-wheelers, another 35,261 DLs were cleared on tests conducted on the four-wheelers, ostensibly with probable murky dealings.
The auditors concluded: “The licences for LMV were issued but the driving tests were carried out on two-wheelers (motorcycles). DLs were issued for the motorcycle/scooter category but driving tests were carried out on LMVs. The DLs were issued for the three-wheeler category but driving tests were carried out on motorcars or two-wheelers.”
Pulling up the RTO, the auditors said that it was clear how, while processing the documents for conducting DL tests, neither the due procedures were followed nor the vehicle details were verified by the authorised RTO Inspectors.
“This creates doubts on whether the tests were conducted at all. The cases are only illustrative (only four vehicles test-checked by the audit) in nature and similar cases may be identified and intimated to audit,” the auditors noted in the report.
(IANS)
