[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

Would be good if the RTO is Scrapped. But does it not belie the fact that after the RTO is scrapped, who will man the new agency? not the very same people ...I hope!

This has always been debated whenever a new institution is being set up or is in the planning stages. The most recent incident I can recall is the Jan Lokpal bill. At the end of the day we are all the same. At some point of time we all have paid up touts/cops or broken a rule here and there at our convenience. The people manning the RTOs were probably not corrupt to begin with but turned so over a period of years due to a variety of factors. And the same thing might plague the new set of people who are appointed. So who is to certify the honesty of the new appointees, if at all they decide to go that way.

[swiftnfurious]

A good thing if it works! Will resolve a whole lot of issues. And I also hope a nation wide tax is applied (or a yearly higher premium for those who traveling to other states). And yes; I hope this also brings an end to the "handling charges aka RTO bribe".

[Kamikaze]

At least in Bangalore, the RTOs have improved in terms of service over the last few years. It is now within the realm of sanity to hope to get services done in time without paying bribes. However, there is no doubt that the systems are archaic and need modernization both in terms of processes and outlook.

That said, the RTOs perform core functions which in my view cannot be "scrapped" - functions such as vehicle registration or issuing driving licenses will always need to be performed by a governmental agency - be it the RTO or a similar office with another name.

The core improvement areas are processes, transparency and outlook and I hope these are addressed in whatever new office the government thinks up.

[Mr.Beat]

RTO's to be scrapped is a good or a bad step will depend on the alternative that takes effect. We all know that in such a big democracy, bureaucracy will always be present and if this bureaucracy is the base then corruption will always flourish.

Secondly, i have seen a sudden rise in the number of RTO's ( Some which have opened very recently MH 50+). Do they have to suddenly close down? How will the numbers be then allocated

Any idea what will be the alternatives?

[sachinpk]

An excellent idea. But as many people pointed out, we need to see how it gets implemented. At least the central govt. has confirmed that the laws are archaic and needs a revamp.

RTOs are state government authorities. In many states RTOs were carved out of the Police department, which came into existence earlier. The agents thrive mainly because all the processes/activities in RTO offices are complicated and do not have any reference guides. Either people should have the patience to learn every thing and start or buffer time for the multiple corrections and visits to the RTO office.

If the plan of the central govt. is to come up with centralised repositories/systems for tracking all aspects of vehicles then it would be a really good thing to do. Let the state govt. staff the RTO and work on their state level activities. But all critical activities like vehicle registration, tax collection, licenses etc. if these are tracked at central level the state RTOs should be forced to use such a system. Internet connectivity etc. is vastly improved. We should be having some decent IT experience to come up with our own systems.

The Home Ministry is already piloting the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System) for the state police departments. It would be a central repository for crime and criminals. When the project is completed a Police SI at Haryana can quickly check on a computer; if the KL vehicle he seized has been stolen/or involved in accidents in Kerala (or any where else).

[SILVERWOOD]

Finally-

Our voice got heard in Delhi.This is probably the first step in centralizing RTOS....

Waseem.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by Mr.Beat

Secondly, i have seen a sudden rise in the number of RTO's ( Some which have opened very recently MH 50+). Do they have to suddenly close down?

RTO's dont suddenly open. A existing RTO gets divided when their work load increases beyond a certain limit. MH-46 came up when MH-06 was divided. Similarly MH-11 was divided to transfer part of the region it covered to MH-50.
As said by many members here the RTO's are a melting pot of corruption, and many have conflicting rules. Some new registration process will have to come up to take over the existing one. Whatever comes up uniform rules are needed.

Rahul

[sandeepmohan]

Who mandates the requirement for saree guards on motorcycles?

I am holding off getting a fitness certificate for my old motorcycle because of all the baseless requirements needed on the motorcycle when the rto inspector does his/her rounds. If you don't have a saree guard on, its means your motorcycle is unfit. If you don't run the absolute stock exhaust, your motorcycle is unfit. However, a fudged emission certificate is okay cause who tracks the emissions db. I can't re insure my motorcycle because the rto makes you run around for baseless things.

Among the many things that can improve by getting rid of rto's, I hope they make the process of getting your work done easy and simple.

[srishiva]

So they want to scrap RTO, but there needs to be a alternative, so whats the difference. You still need some customer facing organization and they need to be in every City and Town and in many numbers.

These guys are scrapping existing things and building new things

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by srishiva

So they want to scrap RTO, but there needs to be a alternative, so whats the difference. You still need some customer facing organization and they need to be in every City and Town and in many numbers.

These guys are scrapping existing things and building new things

Very true. Also what about employment for those employed in these positions? Wait and watch for these things to turn political.

[blacksport]

You can't just scrap the RTOs and do away with all the vehicle registrations, licence et al. There has to be an alternate authority put in place. And, that authority too is going to be manned by the same kind of people sitting in the current RTO offices. So what difference is it going to make? What we need is reforms. RTO processes should be made simpler, computerize the processing, minimize manual intervention etc.

These are just populist jibes aimed at keeping people enthused. Nothing drastic is going to happen on the ground.

[luvDriving]

Very true that all these may be just statements in order to get political mileage but at least some one is saying it. Any one visiting any RTO comes out dazed and confused.

I think if we get an efficient system of giving licences to drive then it may well be the first step towards having better drivers on the road. If not by personal will then enforcing strict rules and regulations may work (I Hope).

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Who mandates the requirement for saree guards on motorcycles?

ARAI, I suppose.

I am holding off getting a fitness certificate for my old motorcycle because of all the baseless requirements needed on the motorcycle when the rto inspector does his/her rounds. If you don't have a saree guard on, its means your motorcycle is unfit. If you don't run the absolute stock exhaust, your motorcycle is unfit. However, a fudged emission certificate is okay cause who tracks the emissions db. I can't re insure my motorcycle because the rto makes you run around for baseless things.

Can't you get one fitted temporarily to get your vehicle passed and remove it later.

Among the many things that can improve by getting rid of rto's, I hope they make the process of getting your work done easy and simple.

Well, that seems to be the crux of this planned move. To make it simpler for the common man and streamline processes. How exactly will this be achieved is still unclear as there are no further details available of the proposed changes.

[SILVERWOOD]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Very true. Also what about employment for those employed in these positions? Wait and watch for these things to turn political.

ROTFL. They never mentioned that they will be removed/terminated from their services.

This is not the first time this is happening. The Government of India had issued an Ordinance on 19 January 1956 nationalising the Life Insurance sector and Life Insurance Corporation came into existence in the same year. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) absorbed 154 Indian, 16 non-Indian insurers as also 75 provident societies—245 Indian and foreign insurers in all. In 1972 with the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act was passed by the Indian Parliament, and consequently, General Insurance business was nationalized with effect from 1 January 1973. 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies, namely National Insurance Company Ltd., the New India Assurance Company Ltd., the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd and the United India Insurance Company Ltd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_in_India#History

Waseem.

[noopster]

Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater! Just because people running the RTOs are corrupt and inefficient there is no reason to get rid of the entire institution! In fact there are quite a few RTOs that run extremely efficiently these days: the ones in Bangalore come to mind, as does MH-02 (Versova, West Mumbai) that I had gone to get my DL renewed recently.

The biggest issue with getting any sort of work done at RTOs is the dependence on touts. If processes are simplified and made transparent, nobody will pay a middleman 1000 (or more!) to get their basic work done. Look at how technology has transformed the passport office in a matter of a few years. The same can and MUST happen to our RTOs.

There are real issues that need to be tackled, primarily those related to:
(1). Road safety & vehicle roadworthiness;
(2). Vastly different policies and tax rates across states;
(3). Issuance & renewal of driving licenses
that the Centre can intervene in and push the RTOs to implement. Threatening to shut them all down may make a nice headline and get some votes perhaps but is not a feasible long-term solution.