Applicants visiting the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in Hyderabad are experiencing delays and inconvenience due to the lack of punctuality among officers and staff. To address this issue, city-based transport unions have requested the Transport department to install a biometric attendance system at RTOs to monitor attendance and punctuality.
Currently, each RTO office in Greater Hyderabad handles around 500-600 transactions daily. These transactions include various services such as vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses, duplicate licenses, and renewal cards. However, visitors have complained about delays caused by late reporting of staff and officials, leading to unnecessary delays and an increase in pending work.
The general secretary of the Telangana Auto and Motor Welfare Union, M Dayanand, highlights that different sections at RTOs often start functioning later than the stipulated time. This results in delays for visitors, who gather at the office and face frustration due to the late start of services.
One applicant, Venkat Reddy, shares his experience at the Moosarambagh RTO, where the officer arrived 30 minutes late for an appointment scheduled at 10 am. The entire process took longer than expected due to the non-punctuality of the staff, causing inconvenience for applicants with different timings.
Similar delays have been observed at the Bandlaguda RTO, where visitors spend around one hour waiting for services to begin. Mohammed Mahmood Hussain Makke, an activist, explains that hundreds of frustrated applicants gather at the office daily, facing delays in their transport-related transactions.
Dayanand suggests that implementing a biometric attendance system would ensure staff punctuality. He points out that RTO employees currently work only five and a half hours a day, which is insufficient considering the number of visitors and daily transactions. Additionally, he mentions that other government departments have made it mandatory for staff to register their biometric attendance, but this requirement has not been implemented for RTOs.
Drivers of transport vehicles, such as auto-rickshaws and heavy vehicles, also face delays in renewals and license processes at RTOs due to late reporting of staff and absence of inspectors. The TAMWU urges the administration to install biometric systems at RTO offices and monitor staff efficiency.
