‘Shortage of Staff Delaying Work at RTO’ says Asst RTO John Misquith
Mangaluru: During the weekly “Janaspandana” programme, Senior Motor Vehicle Inspector and in-charge Assistant Regional Transport Officer John Misquith here on Tuesday said that personnel in the Mangaluru Regional Transport office are getting acclimatised to Sarathi4, the latest version of online issuance of Learners Licence (LL) and Driving Licence (DL), there was delay in processing applications. “Vahan4, a software for registration of vehicles, was introduced in March, while Sarathi4, a software for issuance of DL and LL, was introduced in June. We have limited staff and some of them are old. They are taking time to get acclimatised with this new online systems,” he said.
Misquith further said, “To handle the load of requests for Learners Licence, we first started with providing 10 slots per day. Now, we are providing 30 slots. In the coming days, it would be increased to 60 when the personnel will be used to the operations of the new system,”. Replying to a query, Misquith said that the prime responsibility of the department was to collect revenue for the State. “We are given targets every month and we have to give explanation if the same is not met. The first priority was for collecting taxes and taking steps to seize vehicles for which taxes have not been paid. Enforcement of traffic rules, including checking of vehicles, comes next” he added.
Misquith also said that there are plans to open RTO Call Centre in Mangaluru, where issues regarding Road Transport Department could be solved. Through the Call Centre, citizens can file their complaints, and it will help the department in attending to the complaints soon and rectify them. During the programme, activist G.K. Bhat pointed to the inordinate time taken at the Mangaluru office for issuing Learners Licence. Bhat said that the Mangaluru office was handling more than 100 applications per day earlier. “You have introduced Sarathi4 software which has considerably slowed down the work. If we apply today, we get appointment for Learners Licence test 30 days later,” he said.
Congress activist Hasanabba complained against some private buses that are not operating via Konaje Panchayat. He said that some city buses still do not sport route details by the side of front and rear doors. One more local resident Martin Pinto complained of delay in processing applications seeking renewal of registration certificate for old vehicles.
