Telangana to Speed Up Driving License and RC Issuance with Maharashtra Model

Hyderabad: The Transport Department of Telangana is taking steps to reduce delays in issuing Vehicle Registration Certificates (RCs) and driving licenses. Complaints from motorists about long waiting times have led to a change in the current system.

A team of officials, led by Joint Transport Commissioner (JTC) Chandrashekhar Goud, recently visited Maharashtra to study its policy for issuing RCs and licenses. The team has submitted a detailed report to the state government, which has given approval for implementing a similar system in Telangana.

Currently, the Transport Department issues between 9,000 and 12,000 RCs and driving licenses daily through 62 Regional Transport Office (RTO) centers across the state. However, technical issues have caused significant delays. Motorists have also raised concerns about how people who use middlemen get their RCs and licenses much faster, often within a day or two.

According to an anonymous official, there are several vendors involved in the process, each responsible for different parts such as cartridges, ribbons, and cards. This fragmented system is causing delays in issuing documents. To tackle this, Telangana is planning to introduce a centralized system, similar to the one used in Maharashtra, where RCs and licenses are issued from central centers rather than individual RTO offices. In Maharashtra, central printing hubs in Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Nagpur handle the bulk of the work, issuing between 30,000 and 35,000 documents daily.

In Telangana, the Transport Department will set up a central printing facility in Hyderabad, with strict security measures. Access to the printing center will be restricted to authorized vendor staff and department representatives, using access cards and monitored by CCTV cameras. This centralized system is expected to speed up the process, improve transparency, and reduce corruption linked to middlemen.

The tendering process for this new system will begin within the next week or two, and officials hope to roll out the changes soon, benefiting motorists across the state.