Vikas Sharma
JAMMU, Feb 11: Applicants at the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Jammu, have been grappling with massive delays in the issuance of Driving Licences (DLs) and Registration Certificates (RCs), with waiting periods stretching from seven to eight months.
The delay, attributed to a backlog of over 10,000 cases, has triggered widespread public frustration and raised serious questions about administrative preparedness and accountability.
According to officials and affected applicants, the crisis stemmed from a shortage of smart card printing material and the non-release of payments to vendors, which led suppliers to halt deliveries.
As a result, thousands of motorists have been forced to rely on digital copies of the driving licences and registration certificates-documents that are not always recognised by enforcement agencies on the ground.
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The impact has been particularly severe for commercial vehicle drivers, including those engaged in transporting essential goods, who require physical licences to operate legally.
The prolonged delay has disrupted livelihoods and added to daily operational risks.
Transport Department officials, however, maintain that the issue was temporary and linked to a smart card version upgrade undertaken by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) across the Union Territory. They claimed that following the system upgrade, the problem has now been resolved.
Despite these assurances, the ground reality has remained grim for months.
Under existing regulations, DL and RC smart cards are meant to be dispatched within a fortnight. Instead, the prolonged delay resulted in long queues at the RTO office, frequent arguments between applicants and staff and rising public anger.
Manohar Singh, a resident of Nagrota, said he waited over six months after completing his driving test to receive his licence.
“I finally received my DL after six months and 15 days, but no explanation was given for the delay,” he said.
Another applicant shared the same experience and said that despite renewing his licence online, he has been waiting for over a year for the physical card.
Applicants alleged that such delays defeat the very purpose of digitisation.
While the Government promotes online services to eliminate middlemen, prolonged inaction forces people to approach intermediaries who charge hefty sums, thereby encouraging corruption rather than curbing it.
Similar issues have affected vehicle owners.
Seema Sharma of Basholi said she had to wait for months to receive the RC of her newly purchased car.
“Without the RC book, how can I drive the vehicle? If the police stop us, we are fined,” she said, adding that repeated follow-ups with the dealer and RTO yielded no timely solution.
Responding to the concerns, RTO Jammu, Jasmeet Singh, told Excelsior that the department had faced an acute shortage of printing material for the past seven to eight months.
“The delay occurred due to the smart card version upgrade managed by NIC. After the system upgrade, the issue has been resolved,” he said.
“All pending issues have now been addressed, and we have decided to start delivering RCs and DLs to long-pending applicants. Their licences will be made available to all the applicants at their door steps with the help of postal department within in week time,” he asserted.
While the department’s assurance offers some relief, the episode highlights the urgent need for better contingency planning, timely vendor payments and transparent communication.
Digital governance cannot succeed unless backend systems are equally robust. For citizens, efficiency is not a promise, it is an expectation.
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