Soon, e-payment facility at RTOs to erase middleme

In a move aimed at eliminating middlemen and removing irregularities at regional transport offices (RTOs), the state government has decided to introduce e-payment facilities for vehicle registration and driving licences, vehicle permits and fitness certificates.

According to official sources, the facility will first be introduced for registration of vehicles by dealers and then extended to payments pertaining to licences, permits and fitness certificates by the public. Transport minister K N Nehru is likely to inaugurate the system in November.

"The department has tested the software and is now making certain modifications to make it more simplified. To start with, the payments can be made through the State Bank of India's net banking services and the bank has agreed to provide zero balance account facilities to vehicle dealers who don't have an account with it. Once the system is in place, we will gradually enable the driving schools and individual applicants to make use of it," a senior transport official told The Times of India at the Secretariat.

Authorised dealers in the state have already been given identity name and password to enable them to access the transport department's website to submit applications for vehicle registration online.

"The government aims to make the RTOs cashless and paperless offices and considers the introduction of e-payment facility an important step in that direction. Soon, the system will be upgraded to enable applicants to make the payments using credit and debit cards,'' said a regional transport officer in the city.

Many vehicle users welcomed the decision but said the government should be more pro-active in ensuring that there were no middlemen at RTOs since usage of e-services depends on the computer literacy among the general public. The recently introduced facility through which vehicle users can submit applications for driving licence and get prior appointments to take learner's licence tests and driving tests has evoked a good response.

Transport department records show that about 7,500 vehicle users across the state applied for learner's licence online since August 1 and in Chennai region alone, over 3,000 people used the facility to submit learner's licence applications. Besides, driving schools in the state submitted applications online on behalf of over one-lakh applicants.