License to ridicule

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The “Citizen-Friendly Services (CFS) of Transport Department” of the Andhra Pradesh government seem to have touched some ridiculous highs and lows.
The Transport Department issued driving licenses in as many as 551 cases in the recent past to persons well over the age of 100 years.
Likewise, 1,280 teenagers below the age of 16 too have benefited from the Department’s munificence as they conveniently secured driving licenses in various parts of the state, in clear violation of Section 14 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Interestingly, in some cases, the dates on the driving licenses indicated that the holder was born well after the license issue date. In 4,019 cases, the date of driving test was noted to be prior to even the date of application.
These glaring lapses were picked up during a performance review of the Transport Department by the Comptroller and Auditor General during the year 2008-09.
The CAG report was tabled in the state Assembly.
The CAG pointed out that learners’ licenses were issued “beyond permissible limits” in 18,626 cases, despite the MV Act stipulating that a learner’s license shall be valid only for a period of six months.
In one particular case, an applicant “passed” the driving test though he scored zero marks. The minimum marks required for issuing a driving license is 16 out of 20.
It also noted that validity certificates for 41,978 vehicles were issued for a period of over 15 years though the certificates have to be renewed every five years on completion of 15 years.
The CAG slammed the Transport Department over the “gross inconsistencies\improbabilities” in the CFS stating they were due to “lack of proper validation and input controls.”
In 9,105 cases, the tax payment date was beyond the system date.
In 15 cases, validity of the date of registration of vehicles was shown prior or same as the date of issue of the registration certificate.
In six cases, validity of international driving permit expired before the issue date.
It was also found that the fitness certificate in 1.36 lakh cases involving a fee of Rs 10.74 crore was renewed for more than one year, contrary to the provisions and which have serious implications on the road safety, the CAG noted.