HYDERABAD:With its employees taking part in the Telangana Sakala Janula Samme since Sept 13, the Road Transport Authority (RTA) is practically non-functional.In Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts, about 17,000 applicants for driving licences and vehicle registrations have come and gone in the last one month. On an average, everyday at least 250 applicants have had to return empty handed from the 12 RTA offices in the two districts.V Jagan, a techie who stays in Ameerpet, has been doing the rounds to the Khairatabad RTA office for the past one month to get his new two-wheeler registered. “ I have visited the Khairatabad RTA office thrice in the last one month to get my new bike registered.The office was closed. I had to pay fine a couple of times to the traffic police for going around on an unregistered bike,” he said wondering when the strike will end. Usually, on any given day, about 450 people apply for either a driving licence or vehicle registration. Asked how the RTA hopes to manage to process all the pending applications once the strike is over, Hyderabad Joint Transport Commissioner and secretary G Panduranga Rao said, “the RTA office staff will work for two more hours every day to clear the backlog.We may also hire private staff for some time.” People can pay only quarterly road tax at the e-Seva centres but can’t apply for learner’s licence rule (LLR), fresh driving licence (FDL), licence renewal (LR), vehicle registration certificate, vehicle fitness certificate and transfer of owner certificate because the staff is not there, he added. About 279 employees work in the 12 RTA offices in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. “For one month we will have double the normal work as thousands of applicants are waiting to get their vehicles registered or get a driving licence,” said Deputy Transport Commissioner of Ranga Reddy district C Ramesh. Drawing relative comfort, he pointed out, “it is the same at all the RTA offices in the 10 districts of the Telangana region.”
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