Hyderabad: Drivers queue up for licences
The court either penalises violators, sends them for counselling or, in many cases, to jail.
Hyderabad: The number of licences issued has jumped from 54,399 in 2015 to 80,856 in 2016; another 19,682 licences have been issued so far this year.Till 2016, the traffic police used to book drivers for not carrying a driving licence. Later, the police began chargesheeting violators. The court either penalises violators, sends them for counselling or, in many cases, to jail.
As many as 752 drivers were jailed in 2016 for carrying their licence while driving.There are an estimated 50 lakh vehicles in the GHMC area, but the number of licences issued was 37 lakh.
Traffic DCP A.V. Ranganath said, “after we started chargesheeting violators, there has been a steep increase in applications for the driver licence.” He said the counselling sessions too had a huge impact.
He said those caught without a licence would trot out many excuses. “Now, people should not have a problem in booking a slot for a licence as everything is available online now at the RTA offices.”