RTO Officials Collecting Higher Fines, More Bribes: Video Viral in Social Media
Kakinada: A van driver has complained against the road transport department (RTO) officials collecting huge bribes and imposing heavy fines on drivers. He took a video on them and uploaded it on social media, which has become viral.
Kunuku Ramakrishna, driver of Pennada Agraharam situated between Bhimavaram and Plakoderu of West Godavari district, released the video. He is also the Jana Sena secretary for Palakoduru mandal. Officials of the RTO/transport, revenue and municipalities are often cited to be in the forefront of corruption and bribe-taking.
The driver said transport/RTO officials are imposing heavy fines on even small and heavy vehicles, ostensibly to reach their daily targets. If the drivers/vehicle owners are unable to pay big amounts, the officials seek and collect bribes and leave them.
Driver Ramakrishna told Deccan Chronicle that a van driver took his family to another village by his vehicle. Due to some technical snags, the van was stopped on the roadside. Two transport officials went to him and demanded a fine of Rs 10,000 fine, citing it as a case of illegal transporting of people. The van driver expressed his inability to pay. “He paid Rs 3,000 as a bribe to avoid the heavy fine.”
Meanwhile, the same officials went to a heavy load vehicle that was stationary on a lower road, a distance of 500 metres from the main road. They tried to deflate the tyres of the heavy vehicle.
“The driver and the cleaner of the lorry were away. I questioned the transport officials why they were deflating the tyres. Drivers face trouble when the tyres of such vehicles are deflated. The officials collected a bribe of Rs 3,000 from there too (when the driver came back),” he said.
Ramakrishna uploaded the video of these scenes on social media. He said that previously, the officials used to collect Rs 300 or Rs 500, but now they try and collect a minimum Rs 20,000 for any law violation. “Recently, I was fined Rs 2,500. The officials collected a pollution-related fine of Rs 1,500, from the driver of a tractor.”
Drivers are afraid of taking their loads to Bhimavaram due to the greedy behaviour of the transport officials. “At one time, when I was imposed a heavy fine on me, the Bhimavaram MLA G Srinivas and others helped me settle the issue by asking the officials to reduce the fine.”
The West Godavari district transport officer Maheswara Rao rejected the charges of the van driver Ramakrishna. He told Deccan Chronicle, “I enquired about the matter and found the officials did no wrong. Previously, if vehicles violate the transport rules and regulations or overload the vehicles, a fine below Rs 500 was being imposed. But the central government amended the rules and increased the fines to a minimum of Rs 20,000. We are helpless,” he claimed.
