The Transport Department is preparing to invite applications for 10,000 auto rickshaw permits, which were cancelled in the wake of allegations of graft related to their issuance late last year.
To ensure a transparent application and issuance procedure this time around, the Department is mulling putting the process online, according to a senior government official.
The official confirmed that the exercise for opening the procedure was almost ready and applications could be invited starting mid-June.
On December 25 last year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had received information about the prevalence of a racket in the issuance of Letters of Intent (LOIs) from some auto rickshaw drivers within days of its commencement.
The complainants had alleged irregularities in the distribution of LOIs of which 932 had already been issued by the Department received in January, 2015 which, as per preliminary enquiries, consisted of being issued on a pick and choose basis despite orders of the Transport Minister to follow chronological order.
The LOIs, it also emerged, were being handed over to certain intermediaries and unauthorised persons instead of the beneficiaries and applicants directly.
During a meeting convened by Mr. Kejriwal over the issue, all the 932 LOIs issued by the Transport Department, were scrapped even as the exercise of issuing these was put on hold.
The matter was referred to the Vigilance Department for further enquiry and three officials of the Transport Department, S. Roy Biswas, Deputy Commissioner, Manish Puri, Inspector and Anil Yadav, UDC, were placed under suspension.
