Three days after the Telangana Transport Department went ‘live’ with its online services, teething troubles continue to hold sway over it. Complaints that the RTA server was not responding to several of the 59 processes continued to pour in.
The most heard was that it was refusing users multiple transactions, like one seeking a driving licence (DL) renewal and a change of address, or a spelling correction in the name with change in nomenclature in a DL from Motorcycle With Gear to a Light Motor Vehicle (Non-Transport) and the like.
Another area where people were disappointed was the issue of an International DL. An IAS officer faced a problem when it was found that he had to pay a mite more than what he had paid through the payment gateway. Senior transport officials ran around him at the RTA-Central, saying they would fix the issue, but that he had to come back again.
A student with only a few days left before he flies out to a university in Michigan in the USA, was flummoxed when his payment through the Paytm gateway was returned. When he tried to log in again on August 4 (Thursday), fix a slot and pay the prescribed fee of Rs. 850, the system said he already had a ‘live’ slot for August 3 (Wednesday).
Aarti Srimanth, who wanted to spring a surprise on her husband, wanted to get her licence renewed on her own. She got a slot online easily, but encountered trouble when she reached the RTA, Secunderabad. There was no separate queue for women and the long wait that she never expected. “They should have had multiple counters to avoid confusion and people screaming at each other,” she said. If these were the cons, some visitors to the RTA-Central (Khairatabad) office experienced the pros too. A middle-aged housewife was seen walking away with a Learners’ Licence (LL) in her hand and smile on her face telling her friend that the new system was good. “I did not have to speak to anyone at all. After booking my slot online, I took my test and in less than 30 minutes, I got my LL,” she said. Transport Commissioner Sandeep Kumar Sultania was busy with Joint Commissioner In-Charge of IT P. Venkateswarlu, while Joint Commissioner (City), T. Raghunath and City Road Transport Officers were making a list of options/processes that were not going the way they were programmed to.
“We are on the right track. In a week or so, everything will be fine,” said Mr. Sultania.
