The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) carried out surprise checks on Thursday at 53 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and offices of agents following complaints of widespread corruption for issuing driving licences, clearance certificates, ownership transfers and other documents.
Though the various applications related to the Motor Vehicle department are now being processed through the Parivahan software, the applicants are also required to submit a physical copy at the RTO office.
The VACB had got information that some of the RTO officials have been using this as a leeway to demand money from the public through agents, by delaying processing of the applications.
The applications which are submitted through agents are often marked with codes which could be identified by the officials, who then speeds up the processing. The agents often hand over the money at the officials' residence or through digital wallets. In some cases, agents were found to have opened savings bank accounts for the officials, for transferring the bribe money.
Some of the agents were found to be in illegal possession of RTO documents. Though the documents issued from the office are supposed to be sent directly to the applicant by registered post, some officials hand these over to the agents.
At the Kottayam RTO, the agents were found to have transferred ₹1.2 lakh through Google Pay to RTO officials, while in the Adimali RTO, they have transferred ₹97,000 through digital wallets.
The VACB team also seized ₹1.5 lakh in cash, 84 RC books and four driving licences from the office of an auto consultancy in Nedumangad, while ₹1.06 lakh in cash was seized from an agent's car parked at the Kondotty RTO office.
Similar seizures were made across several locations where the raids were held. Nine ATM cards were seized from an assistant motor vehicle inspector at the Muvattupuzha RTO, out of which five were not in his name. Application forms with coded markings by agents for quicker processing were seized from various RTO offices.
Additional Director General of Police, VACB, Manoj Abraham said that detailed investigation would be carried out in each of the discrepancies unearthed during the surprise checks. The public could inform the VACB regarding instances of corruption through the Whatsapp number 9447789100 or at the toll free number 1064 or 8592900900.
