The Ahmedabad police’s night combing drive has become a source of frustration for both the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and citizens, as the ever-growing pile of tokens does not seem to end soon.
Amid the chaos, the RTO has intensified its efforts to collect fines. On Wednesday, a staff of 15 clerks and 5 inspectors, totalling 45 employees, was actively involved in this task, instead of the regular two clerks and one inspector.
From 8 am in the morning till late at night, the RTO officials continued to collect fines, bringing some relief to vehicle owners.
The RTO received a memo from the police on Wednesday, resulting in the collection of ₹15 lakh. In the past five days, a total of ₹33 lakh has been generated through fines. While both the public and the RTO officials are facing difficulties, the government treasury has benefited by ₹33 lakh in just five days.
The RTO authorities were collecting fines ranging from ₹15,000-₹18,000 from each two-wheeler vehicle belonging to other states, including cell value, penalty, and Gujarat’s road tax.
For ordinary vehicle drivers, fines ranging from ₹3,000-₹5,000 were being collected, leading to a difficult situation for many people from the middle and lower middle classes due to financial constraints.
The ‘night combing’ drive by the Ahmedabad police saw over 3,000 vehicles seized over the lack of relevant papers.
There are piles of two-wheelers across 60 police stations in the city, and at once, only 100 tokens are issued, leading to a delayed process for the fined owners. After getting the token, they have to pay a hefty fine of ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 at the RTO.
The sluggish process means that the owners are waiting for as many as 15 days to get their vehicles back.