wanderluster - what is the street value of the car, would it make more sense just to scrap it and destroy the RC?
A very good friend passed away after fighting cancer for 4 years, so he had enough time to get all paperwork and documentation ready, but still, when he died, his car was still in his name. His wife asked for help in transferring the car (Delhi vehicle, address, less than 4 years old car) so it took about 6 months to get the death and succession certificates in order. Submitted all paperwork after thorough checking in April 2014 at RTO Sheikh Sarai as "death case".
Then started the run-around. For 3 months, nothing, everytime my driver is told, machine is down, agency has changed, once he was told pay 3k and it will get done. Finally, yesterday, I went myself and the counter clerk looks at the receipt, looks at the file, looks at his computer and then says "seller signature variation".
I told him "this is not seller, this is tranfer from dead husband to wife", he said "same thing" in a very rude manner and asked me to come inside to meet the MLO. The MLO tells me he can not over-ride his subordinate once file has got a note, so I must get a matching signature. The person is dead for 11 months now.
I flipped.
The rest of the episode is on my blog at TOI and also escalated to friends in Government, but in the bargain, the 2 MLOs and one asst MLO delivered the transferred RC to my house the same evening.
But here is part of the blog online written by me - "Here is, and not so funny, but grimly black humour, my latest experience at the neighbourhood RTO in Sheikh Sarai, New Delhi.
The episode involves the transfer of a car from my late friend’s name (after his death last year) to his wife’s name, and has been going on for 4-6 months. Right at the beginning I was told, pay 3k, and it will be done now, or it will take forever. I chose not to pay, and the documents correct in every respect after multiple checks at multiple counters were filed in mid-April 2014.
Even then, I paid 370/- extra under a funny receipt, plus “service tax” of which there is no record, which is a separate story, in addition to the regular fees plus penalty of 600/- rupees for “delay”.
8 trips and demands for various sums of money later, which said amounts I steadfastly refused, I decided to go myself today, and sure enough, the counter guy openly asked for 300/- as “tatkal fees” and was also willing provide some sort of a receipt from the “new” agency.
Reason? I was informed, by the counter staff and then by a consortium of three sitting in the cabin of the MLO, that signature of the owner did not tally, and I would have to get fresh signatures of the “seller”. This was in context with transfer of a car, where the owner had died in July 2013, and all documents like death certificate, legal heir and many other documents were right in front of them as the rascals grinned at me and demanded fresh signatures.
That’s when I said enough is enough and started walking about taking photos. How is it that after 3 months and 8 trips they discover there is such an obtuse deficiency? I said, fine, hang the RC, do your worst.
Moments later, assorted MLOs come out of the wall and say “you can’t take photo”. I said, I already did, and have already transmitted them, so let’s call the cops. I also told them they can take the RC, my driving licence, all the cars, and seize all of them if they want, I will use a DTC bus.
The cop who was hanging around and/or called took my side on realising which way this was going. and said he was not aware of any law that prevented me from taking photographs.
As for the MLOs, I just asked them why they and their staff were not in uniform, and what happened to the service tax collected. That was enough to get them to start offering me cups of tea and water.
it is an old habit of mine, i never accept hospitality, nor do i enter their offices. Talk in the open, so i walked to the nearby mother dairy outlet, and bought my own 6/- worth of salty buttermilk (chaach).
Long story short, I was told that the RC magically became ready in minutes and is now being delivered by hand, the counter crowds which are 75% fake to make it look noisy melted, and the MLOs are saying sorry sorry. I am getting calls, my late friend’s wife is getting calls, and the MLOs want to visit me at home.
But this still needs a system fix. The individual case is not the issue.
And this, by the way, is where privatisation is worse than Government."
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This is the eMail to RTO-Delhi
"Good Evening,
While separately i escalate this, i want to notch it up to all of you again, also - on what the extent of corruption has reached to where signatures are demanded from dead people now at your Delhi RTOs.
The real core issue here is that Office of MLO, Sheikh Sarai, chooses to ask me to go get a solution for a signature variation from a person who has been dead for last 11-12 months. Otherwise, ofcourse, the corruption and bribery route is open? And this is for a transfer of a vehicle to a widow, AFTER her husband has died, when full documentation of death certificate, legal heir certificate, nominee - everything has been provided.
What sort of death case vehicle transfer form requires signature of a dead person? That also 3-4 months after submitting all forms all documents including death certificates, legal heir certificates and more?
Do you government servants not have any remorse left even for dead people now?
SHAME.
Sincerely,
Veeresh Malik"
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This is another email to the Transport Department in Delhi
"Greetings & Jai Hind!!
Yesterday, at RTO/Sheikh Sarai, your MLOs Shri Nand Gopal and Shri Rana told me I could not take photos, but were unable show me any proper Constitutionally sound and/or gazetted order to that effect.
This is the article I have written and published, and it carries photos of RTO-Sheikh Sarai. I strongly suggest that as a means of encouraging citizen participation in democracy you either put up the rules under which photography is not permitted, and then prosecute me in context with this published article, so that we can resolve this issue one way or the other.
You may be interested in knowing that a similar exercise was carried out with Ministry of Civil Aviation too and one is currently underway with and at all levels of Judiciary too as well as Indian Railways. It will be good to club Road Transport and Highways also.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes...res-at-an-rto/
Shri Nand Gopal at one stage even threatened that he would hold me against my will in his office. That I shall take up with PMO as well as Home. Can you even imagine what RTOs do when dealing with citizens who are unable escalate matters please?
It is my submission that open extortion is not unknown at your RTOs, and that demanding signatures from a dead person is the worst example of open loot and thuggery practised anywhere in the world that I have seen, but there are many other aspects especially those pertaining to commercial vehicle and licences which I propose to dig deeper into by applying for a taxi driver licence/badge myself.
When I visit RTO Sheikh Sarai for my conversion of driving licence to taxi driver/LMV commercial licence, I shall propose to take photographs of the process, under intimation to Government of India, including your office. Please do let me know if you have any formal objection in this matter.
In the first instance, the process for issue of commercial licences is so opaque, that even highly educated people will not be able to follow it, please remdy the same and oblige?
Sincerely,
Veeresh Malik
D-61
Defence Colony
New Delhi 110024
ps: It would be essential, to my information, that all staff working at RTOs are in defined uniforms so that citizens and consumers and visitors know who they are dealing with."
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Just as an update, I have been asked by MoRTH what is a system fix, and I have said - the Form 20 at time of registration needs a simple column for "nominee" like in Fixed Deposits, EPFO, etcetc.
Let's see how it proceeds please?