Journalism of Courage
Move to counter ID card forgery; RTO sends proposal to the state transport department
Autorickshaw drivers in the city may soon have identity cards with photographs in the smart card format instead of the present system of paper identity cards that are manually prepared. The proposal has been sent by the Regional Transport Office (RTO),Pune to the state transport department for approval. The move comes in the wake of complaints from various consumer groups in the city,citing cases of forged id-cards.
If the new system is started,the metal badges and the paper identity cards will be done away with. For the same amount of Rs 50 that drivers now pay for the cards,they will be issued smart cards.
Earlier in March this year,the then RTO,Chandrakant Kharatmal,in a meeting with other RTO officials,had discussed whether the contract for the proposed identity cards should be given to the parties who make the smart cards for driving licences and registration cards or a new tender would be needed. UTL Technologies Ltd,a Hyderabad-based company are the present manufacturers and service providers for smart cards of Maharashtra and a few other states.
Talking about the move,activist Prashant Inamdar said,Having a photo identity-card will make autorickshaw drivers more authentic. Many drivers who dont have the required contract carriage permit,not having a photo on their cards allows them to borrow from each other. In such a case the passenger is at risk. In most offices,including government and private sector,having a photo identity card is the standard practice. It will also be a confidence building measure for the passenger as well.
He added that in most other state,even behind the drivers seat his photo,name,address,phone number and other details are mentioned. It is easily visible to a passenger in case if he or she needs to lodge a complaint against the driver etc. He also said even now the drivers do not not wearing their badges and strict action needs to be taken against those who flout the norms.
