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I guess I am going to post my funny incident at the RTO tomorrow, going there with a rusted bend-pipe and a bit of rust on the engine block of my cast iron bullet. I am sure going to get these pointed out based on the reports in this thread, so fingers crossed if I(my bike) pass the inspection.

If I come back with some good/funny news I will remember to share here. I had gone to replace the bend pipe, but the vendor had the free flow type (asked in two shops and both said the original bend pipe is not manufactured anymore) , so didn't replace it.

If the inspector gives me grief I might have to chrome it if he asks me to go there again after fixing the rust :(

This thread is more about our casual acceptance of corrupt practices in a "c'est la vie" attitude than humor.

For a change, my dad knew some of the RTO officers through his official dealings. My license was up for renewal but I decided to "do it myself". Figured out the process and went to Sarathi. Filled up the form and it's designed to fail. Ridiculously small file size limits for photos / sign etc. Had to "shrink" my passport photo 4-5 times using online services before it was ~20 something kb in size( I forgot how small it was supposed to be but it was just crazy stupid ). The "annexures" list wasn't clear ( unlike the passport renewal / application documents needed app on the passport site ) so I just carried my entire life with me - a file with every single document since nursery to post grad.
I wasn't sure which "dob proof" will be acceptable so carried xerox of aadhar and 10th cert.

On D Day my dad told me to call him if I get stuck and he will ask his friends to help me out.

I reached the RTO office 10 mins before my scheduled slot, waited ~20 mins for the "officer" to come. He just looked at alllll the paperwork I was carrying, asked me did I fill up the form myself, told me to just give the aadhar xerox and my form / payment receipt etc. Took a photo ( the photo uploaded online is not used anywhere ! ) and I was done in ~5 mins. No agents, no bribes. The officer was happy atleast one person had filled up the form without an agent and didn't give me any grief. Now just chilling waiting for the DL to be delivered.

Another experience from last year is the exact opposite. Bought a vehicle, paid for a VIP number online and gave 5k "agent fee" to the dealership. 20+ days passed since delivery but my RC wasn't updated with the VRN. Went to the RTO and was asked if it was a "vip number" - on being told yes they just told me "aapko aana chahiye tha. Sab kuch online nahin hota". Green Gandhiji was the only paper missing from the file and my RC was done in 24 hours. This is despite the 5k paid as agent charges at the dealership simply to ensure everything is done without any hassle.

So, RTOs are 90% corrupt but sometimes the officers seem to be in a "good mood" and don't harass us commoners who fill up online forms

Fun fact : I got my licence without any driving assessment. Infact I haven't met the RTO himself.

Okay so when I applied for my DL 5 years back I applied through a driving school just for license and not for the teaching bit, paid around 5k and gave all the docs and my passport size picture to him and was told to come to the RTO 1 week later. 1 week later I go to the RTO and my picture is taken and viola my DL with both car and motorcycle with gear is here the next day. No written test, no driving test, no queue. Later I found the owner of the driving school was the local leader of the ruling party in TN. Very different when compared to my sisters Kerala DL Test with the whole H and road test circus.

There was an RTO agent in a town in the then undivided A.P., now in Telangana state. This incident is from the early 1980's.To get a driving licence one had to have a L licence with the gestation period completed. He would pay the official charges plus this agent's fee. Till a particular day, each and every application moved through him would get licences. The success rate was 100%. An acquaintance from a village away from this agent's town filled up the form 4 and sent it with documents and money through his friend who was going to that town.

This time the agent had changed his SOP. He accepted the money and form 4 with relevant documents. But said that the applicant has to physically appear before the inspector on a designated date. The person carrying his form 4 and money asked, "But why?"

The agent replied, " just some few weeks ago such forms and money were put up to one inspector and all were okayed. Then later on, it was found that one applicant did not have one leg as detected by a traffic squad. The inspector who issued this licence was immediately suspended. Hence now, the new inspector checks every applicant in person."

Don’t do that. Try to improve this habit of yours.

Good. I haven’t given any driving test either. My RTO just want asked me 2 questions that we are usually told in class. It was regarding light FYI. But I ado have to get my form corrected.

Are there any written tests for getting DL? I thought there was only driving test and oral test viva. Never heard of anyone giving a written test.

lol. Magnificent India.rl:

TN has this MCQ type questions in a booklet.

Oh man, this touches a raw nerve!

Back in 2011, I moved my Skoda Fabia (regd. in the name of my dad) from Jaipur To Hyderabad, little I had known that it would be the worst nightmare ever. I thought of getting the number changed to a local number to avoid any hassles with the traffic cops(and as you will realize at the end, probably paid for this thought with a life time worth of hassles :D).

As an innocent youth of the country, I decided to not pay for an agent nor offer any bribes and pull of a DIY (The hindi song "aankhon mei sapne liye ghar se hum chal toh diye" fits so perfectly to narrate the beginning of this story) , which I can confidently say is a bad bad idea in RTO context.

The timelines and the agony were something as follows:

- Brought the car to Hyderabad around Aug 2011, found some connection in the Hyderabad RTO office and spoke to the person. They mentioned the RTO is closed due to some strike for the next 30 odd days.

- Went back after a month. The concerned person was more curious in asking questions about my profession and salary than helping with the problem. After wasting some time, he noticed that since my address was in a particular locality, it won't be this RTO but another one. He called up the RTO head of the other office and asked me to contact him.

- On going there, that officer mentioned that since you have been driving the vehicle for more than 30 days without paying the road tax, you need to pay additional fine! Apparently, this RTO wasn't on strike.

- Then started the never ending processes of forms, more forms, long queues at different counters, hassles for address proof (me being new to Hyd didn't have anything other than the rental agreement and office proof both of which they denied to take initially), signatures (from my dad as he was the owner and hence every missed signature meant a round trip of courier), more signatures, "Oh we forgot to tell about this one more signature", verification of car (the verification centre is about an hour away and countless back and forth between the two) and so on.

- After a long time, they mentioned that the process from their side is complete and that they would now write to the Jaipur RTO to confirm NOC. For weeks, I kept going back to check the status and they said that Jaipur RTO hasn't responded. Finally someone showed 'mercy' and pointed me to a pile of letters to check for mine. Alas, I found mine! Oh, but in the bundle that hadn't been sent out yet :Frustrati . After I created some ruckus, they said if you can arrange a call with somebody at Jaipur RTO, we may not need to do the written verification process. Now I had to find a contact a Jaipur RTO, convince them for a call and coordinate the entire process. They again asked to come back after a few weeks.

- When things didn't move again and it was more than 6 months, I finally gave up and reached out to someone who would take a few currency notes, distribute it to the right people and relief me of the agony. Things for sure moved along faster but not smoothly enough.

- Finally around March 2012, I got my new RC. I was overjoyed but then I realized that they were so happy with my hardwork that upgraded the car model from Fabia to Superb in the RC clap: . I again went back to which the response was that the Fabia 1.4 TDI model wasn't present in their database and hence they put whatever they thought was its closest relative. Now they made me write a letter to some central committee for a database upgrade! Being a software engineer, I wondered if they would make me write some code for it next.

- I wrote this letter and again reached out to the agent who made me add some more currency to the letter in-case the concerned database department didn't understand English words.

Finally after another month, I got the correct RC. I had taken up close to 10 months for the entire process to complete. I was so traumatized by the event that for years after that, I would keep my RC as if it were the ring from "Lord of the Rings" and like Gollum would look at it every other day and utter "My Precious!"

When I bought my Yamaha RX 100 last year (fifth hand), and went to Indore RTO for having it transferred to my name I got a shock, because as per their records this number plate, chassis number and engine number belonged to a Bajaj Chetak. After much enquiry and some calls to higher ups in the transport department of MP we found out that this would have occurred most likely during the digitization of RTO records, and some bright spark had chosen entered the wrong data. Long story short, after some talking to the RTO and his superiors (through contacts) they decided to change the record back to what was on the RC book (fortunately the owner before me had it in a very tattered condition). In the book though, manufacturer's name is Escorts Ltd. and the model is Yamaha, so full marks for being specific there. Thankfully for me the colour is "not specify" which means I am free to repaint it whatever I want before it's next renewal. The number of axles however is 4, which means I can make it into a Golmaal style bike by adding 2 more axles...

Hilarious to read the news that over 200 unauthorised motor driving schools have mushroomed in Nagpur City. They have acquired dual steering control vehicles too according to the Vidarbha Region Motor School Owner's Association (VRMSOA). The VRMSOA has 65 licensed driving schools as members and it contends that they complaints have been made since the past two years to the Dy Chief Minister, the State's Transport Commissioner and City's RTO but no with results. Accidents are increasing according to the Association and the registered driving school employees are losing jobs.

Hence, to protest they went to the RTO MH 31 premises holding placards saying "PLEASE FORGIVE US, WE CANNOT ACT, WE ARE SHAMELESS." And the VRMSOA members planted a number of "BESHARAM PLANT SAPLINGS" ('besharam' a Hindi word means shameless) in the RTO premises. These plants grow in dirty surroundings shamelessly in nullahs and streams with pigs roaming around too.

Read more at:
http://m.timesofindia.com/articlesho...campaign=cppst

Mr Basant Kumar Mahapatra, RTO of Boudh in Odisha state was trapped by the Odisha state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Raids were conducted by the ACB in ten locations in Bhubaneshwar, Boudh including his office at Boudh and Behrampur and Bhanjanagar both in Ganjam District. He was found to possess immovable property valued at Rs 14.5 crores and movables worth Rs 4.5 crores (total Rs 19 crores). The properties included gold weighing 590 gms, bookings for flats in upscale areas of Bangalore and Bhubhaneshwar, deposits of Rs 3.90 crores and more.

The newsreport:-



Very little if any, from the total amount of Rs 19 crores could be government money, while in most such cases the illegal wealth is acquired by swindling the public.

Way back in December 2015 Union Minister had publicly stated that the RTO's in the country are the most corrupt and indulge in loots bigger than Chambal dacoits. Eight plus years have passed since then but nothing has changed.

Business Standard from December 10, 2015

The link:-
https://www.business-standard.com/am...1001109_1.html

Surprisingly, my experience dealing with the RTO has been quite the opposite to the general trend on this thread. Over the last 1 week my experience with the RTO has been fairly good.

I am writing to share my experience dealing with the Gurgaon (Badshahpur) RTO. Recently I had prepaid the car loan for my Jeep Compass & planned to get the hypothetication removed. I first had to visit the SBI branch from where the loan was issued (very far from my present address & had its own challenges in the entire process, but that’s a story for another day). After a few hours at the branch, received a letter (a certificate of sorts) and two signed copies of form 35 (important for next part). Fortunately the bank RM advised me to get the process of removing the hypothetication completed as soon as possible since RTOs demand a relatively recent certificate from the banks for getting the hypothetication removed.
The next working day, I visited the Badshahpur RTO in Gurgaon for the RC correction, however I made a mistake of not thoroughly researching the documents required for this process. I did a casual search on google & couldn’t figure out the answer. Fortunately, the RTO is not too far from where I stay, barely 15-16 minutes of drive so did not hesitate to drive down.

My first visit to the RTO- I learnt about the documents required for the process. The RTO counter has displayed all documents required for various processes. The RTO officer (Mr Manoj) at the counter also patiently addressed my queries (such as what needs to be covered in the affidavit, address change related query etc.). In addition to the documents listed in the photograph below, I had to include the Form 33 for address change.

Within minutes of leaving the RTO, I got the affidavit prepared by one of the local agents / lawyers who have set up shop in the vicinity. Please note - The RTO actually is in the same complex as various other government offices (Tehsil) and that entire area is cluster of small block with various different administrative buildings. The agent charged me ₹200 (on a stamp paper for ₹10) for preparing the affidavit. The agent drafted the affidavit by editing a standard template on his laptop. Friendly advice: If you do need to get an affidavit/other document prepared, please proof read it yourself multiple times. I had to make various corrections for typo errors & a few other errors that the agent might have made inadvertently. In the same affidavit, I also got a bullet point added calling out the change in address (didn’t know if it was needed, but thought better to cover this as well to avoid revisits). While getting the affidavit prepared, I also learnt that an agent will charge me ₹2000 for getting the correction done in the RC & I need not visit the RTO.
I decided that if I do not success in my subsequent visit to the RTO, I will hire the agent.

My second visit to the RTO (today)- I had all the documents ready and it barely took me 10 minutes to complete the process (no queues at 9:45am). I had to surrender my original RC, submit the documents including the original Form 35 signed by the bank and make a payment for ₹785 (received a receipt for it & paid via credit card). And with that, the process was complete & I was advised to collect the new RC after 10-15 days. I was unsure if my work commitments would let me take a few hours off in the following 2 weeks, so asked if the RC can be delivered via post. I also offered to pay for the postage. The RTO officer immediately agreed, took down my name, car registration number and informed that there are not additional charges. The ₹785 I paid already covers postage. He did caution me that sometimes the postal department may inadvertently misplace some of the RCs and it leads to unnecessary headache. Therefore, best to either pick the RC by yourself or get it collected through family/friends. Fortunately since I got talking to this RTO officer - Mr Manoj, he informed me that he stays fairly close to where I stay and offered to drop off the new RC to one of the security guards in my apartment complex who can then in-turn pass it over to me. He took down my phone number and assured that I shall receive the RC in about 10 to 15 days. Keeping fingers crossed. But overall, I think it turned out to be a smooth process.
Lastly, I realised how these agents take advantage of the gullible individual who does not understand the process or wants to avoid the pain of dealing with the RTO/bureaucracy. I am sure if there are complications in the documents or the individual is unable to visit the RTO in person, agents might be helpful, but I will likely always attempt to complete the process on my own first.

Oh boy, let me regale you with the tale of my chaotic odyssey in Delhi NCR. Strap in for a rollercoaster ride through the labyrinth of RTO woes!

Fifteen years in the chaotic embrace of Delhi NCR, armed with a driver's license from Jharkhand that vanished into the digital abyss of Digitlocker. Must be some database black hole, right? So, I decided to go legit in 2016, trudging to the RTO.

First stop: Sarai Kale Khan RTO. My experience? Let's just say it made Dante's Inferno look like a walk in the park. Stand in multiple endless queues because its a DIY project and one gets to know about their mistakes only when you triumphantly reach the end of the counter, only to be told you have to go to the next one. Anyhow multiple visits later, Learner's license? No problem. When the day arrived, passed the final car test also with flying colors. But the motorcycle test? That's where things took a turn for the absurd. Despite my years of riding experience, multiple motorcycles under my belt, and even a few track days, I somehow managed to fail. Blame it on the top-heavy Interceptor 650, if you will (to save my bruised ego).

Undeterred, I decided to give it another shot. This time, I borrowed a friend's scooter assuming it would be a light and easy thing to manage on the test track. But it was a relic from a bygone era, it had more quirks than a Wes Anderson character. No indicators, an expired PUC, and a tendency to stall faster than a nervous actor on stage (if you did not give it constant throttle input). Yet, armed with sheer determination, I embarked on my second attempt. Cue the comedy of errors: the security guard denied me entry without a pollution certificate so a dash to the pump for a PUC certificate ensued followed by a frantic search for an "L" sign, and finally, a test that felt more like a circus act than a driving exam. I was yeeyawing through the test track, needless to say, I failed again.

Disheartened, I shelved the debacle, until fate intervened in the form of a lost wallet, whisking away my original license. Determined to set things right I applied for a reissue and two-wheeler endorsement. After six months of waiting, daily status checks, and no progress, it showed status as 'scrutiny'. Visited the RTO, directed to the elusive "backend" office. Finally told I couldn't do both at once, and had to cancel and reapply separately. No refunds.

In the meantime, I also moved to Noida, which added another layer of complexity. I needed an address change to get a duplicate license issued, which meant dealing with a different state RTO since Noida falls under UP state jurisdiction. Applied, waited, same 'scrutiny' status. Visited the Delhi RTO backend office, to be told to go to Noida RTO for further action. Turns out my address proof wont go through as my Aadhar card lacked my father's name, so I first need to get that fixed.

So now here's what I needed. Get my Aadhar updated so my address on the license can be updated. Once done then apply for a duplicate license, after it is delivered to my new address apply for an additional two-wheeler endorsement and submit the original license at the RTO. Aah did I tell you they won't update my address till I submit my old license, which I could not since I lost it in the first place.

At this juncture, I was ready to throw in the towel. But just as I teetered on the brink of despair at the Noida RTO, a guardian angel appeared offering solutions, for a fee naturally. Aadhar updated, address changed, endorsement added—no tests, no queues, no questions asked, all in stipulated time.

And so, with a mix of frustration and a generous dollop of absurdity, my Delhi NCR RTO saga reached its conclusion. An odyssey punctuated by endless loops & countless setbacks. But hey, at least it makes for one heck of a story, doesn't it?

Earlier in Maharashtra, many fancy registration numbers from almost every series would be cornered by the RTO officers and staff even for their personal two wheelers and cars. And they had all the powers to allocate such fancy numbers to the friends and favoured ones. For favoured ones, maybe for some bribe/s were paid in exchange. And politicians holding a public post, would get the best of the lot like 0001, 1111, 4444, 5555, 7777, 9999 on priority, maybe on kind for the favours to be returned later. I have never known about such powerful politicians paying anyone in the RTO to get such VVIP registration numbers.

The official vehicles allocated at the Maharashtra RTO offices would also bear fancy numbers like 500, 600, 6226, 9339 and so on.

Come the era of registration number sale by the state government, starting sometime about just more than a decade and a half back, things did not yet improve much. Quite a few of the fancy numbers were cornered for the RTO owned official vehicles. However, the privately owned RTO officers and staff vehicles and their favoured ones faced the hammer and started missing such fancy numbers. Hence, we saw RTO officers and staff with registration numbers like 1550, 1552 and so on but not 1551 or 1555. The numbers like 1551 or 1555 had already started to attract official premiums.

But now I believe, as a result of some PIL and directions from the High Court ( faintly remember reading about it) requiring all fancy numbers to be sold by the state government at fixed premiums, the RTO official vehicles too have to do with non-fancy numbers. The PIL under reference was aimed at prevention of loss of revenue to the government as a result of RTO vehicles cornering fancy numbers.

Hence, its now pay and get your desired numbers, else get the number in the series that your vehicle gets entitled to.

(1) The liberal "Thou will corner fancy numbers" era:-



Above MH 04 EP 3131 also driven on the wrong side!







Above three photos MH 04 EP 7878 and 4040

(2) The newer "Thou cannot corner fancy number era"





Above, the newer Scorpios- they have bought 187 new Scorpios

Link:-
https://www.carblogindia.com/maharas...-classic-suvs/

Beware of purchasing used vehicles from states/UT's where VAHAN 4.0 has not been activated and the data not digitised. A scam was unearthed by the Maharashtra Police that involved unscruplous agents in connivance with their BROTHERS IN ARMS, some RTO officials. An Asst RTO, MVI, AMVI with 6 others have been arrested. The modus operandi was to steal trucks and affix chassis numbers cut and stolen from abandoned trucks. Such trucks would get registered in non-VAHAN 4.0 compatible states to be brought to VAHAN 4.0 compatible states to get re-registered.

Quoting from the newslink below:-

The Navi Mumbai crime branch, seized 19 heavy vehicles from Nagpur and arrested an agent of the Nagpur rural RTO (MH 40) after unearthing a scam of registering stolen vehicles at Amravati RTO (MH 27). Further searches are being in Vidarbha to unearth the entire network of Javed Abdulla Shaikh alias Maniyar who is the mastermind of the nationwide racket of registering stolen trucks. Some 4000 to 5000 trucks could be involved in the re-registration and NOC racket.

The scam revolved around not only stolen vehicles but also issuance of no-objection certificate (NOC) and assignment of ‘new registration mark’ or ‘RMA process’.

The racketeers ran a well-oiled network pan India comprising vehicle thieves, RTO agents, officials and auto-dealers in different states. Sources said the racketeers, under Maniyar who possessed multiple Aadhaar cards, would prepare fake documents from states like Telangana where the transport software Vahan 4.0 is not activated.
The racketeers would first steal a truck, prepare fake documents in such states where and take the vehicles to north eastern states like Nagaland ( non VAHAN 4.0 compatible) where fresh documents and NOC would be issued creating new govt records. These documents would be transferred to Maharashtra as govt records to form basis for re-issuance of new registration numbers. The vehicles would be later sold with fresh documents.

Sources said Maniyar, who too used a software to prepare fake govt records, had spread his network to RTOs including Nagpur, Amravati, Dhule, Pune, Buldhana, Yavatmal and other places where he guided his conduits on the further process. Though the racket was active for the last one decade, their activities had gained momentum since 2021.
In Nagpur, the stolen trucks with Nagaland registration numbers came to transport hubs at Waddhamna, Kapil Nagar, Jaripatka, Lakadganj and Kalamna. Sources said many transporters in Nagpur along with the RTO agents and some officials have now gone underground.

Maniyar, who had 10 offences against him in Mahrashtra and another nine in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, was first arrested by a team of DCP Amit Kale, senior inspector Shashikant Chandekar and sub-inspector Pratap Desai under Navi Mumbai CP Milind Bharambe last week.

The Navi Mumbai crime branch has so far arrested nine persons, including an assistant RTO, motor vehicle inspector and assistant motor vehicle inspector from Amravati. They have also seized nine heavy vehicles from Amravati. According to senior officials of the Navi Mumbai crime branch, documents and records from Nagpur RTO has been sought for investigation. “We want to fix the responsibility before taking action against anyone. Arrests would be done only after evidence on records necessitates such actions,” said a senior official.

According to senior RTO official, Nagpur rural RTO allowed new registrations on basis of records generated by Vahan 4.0, and not manually. “Responsibility should be fixed on Nagaland and other RTOs who created and issued govt records,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../109848268.cms

Another news appearing in The Hitavada states that 4 to 5 K vehicles could be involved in the scam that was operating since 2014. It so happened that a police constable in Navi Mumbai while checking a truck's engine and chassis numbers that were not matching. The police registered a FIR earlier in 2024 and investigated deeper, to find the magnitude of the scam. For instance, a transport company viz Siddhivinayak Transport went bankrupt. Its trucks were abandoned and thd staff and could be others stole spares, chassis numbers etc for using while registering stolen trucks.