Driving licences get delayed in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Road Transport Authority (RTA) is once again facing a shortage of Poly Vinyl Carbon (PVC) chip cards which is leading to the pendency of issuing driving licenses and vehicle registration cards.

The shortage has been in existence for four months and since the past 10 days the majority of the RTA offices in the state reached the ‘out of stock’ stage.

According to sources, about 50,000 motorists who had appeared for driving tests and had applied for vehicle registrations are still waiting for their cards. 

A similar situation existed in December due to the delay in the renewal of the contract but at that time there was no impact on Hyderabad city and other districts like Medchal and Rangareddy under the jurisdiction of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. But this time, major zones like central, south and east are facing a shortage of cards apart from other districts like Suryapet, Nalgonda, Medak, Wanaparthy, Jogulamba-Gadwal, Sangareddy, Warangal, Yadadri, Khammam and Nizamabad.

An official from the Wanaparthy District Road Transport Authority said that they were getting only limited stock.

“If we need 4,000 cards, the higher-ups from the IT section of the RTA are sending us only 1,000 and they are directing us to adjust with it,” the official said.

As per the data of the department, about 1,500 cards have to be generated per day in the city towards registrations and another 750 towards driving licences. 

“The number of both the DL and RC required is around 500 per day in the districts which are facing a shortage of cards. Besides the current pendency of 50,000, the numbers will rise till the department supplies sufficient cards,” the official explained.

Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC) of IT wing C. Ramesh said that the issue would be rectified within one week.