More than 88% of the driving licences issued in Hailakandi district of Assam have come under the scanner.
The southern Assam district has 45,300 driving licence holders. A scrutiny during an attempt to convert the laminated paper licences to smart cards revealed that some 40,000 of them could be "doubtful" or procured fraudulently.
Last week, Hailakandi’s District Transport Officer Syed Rafiqul Mannan issued an order saying a majority of the licences were purportedly issued by his counterpart in Manipur’s Bishnupur district while the rest were issued by a “certain district” of Nagaland. These licences were flagged as doubtful.
Agents to blame?
There have been cases of people acquiring driving licences from neighbouring States after their applications were rejected in Assam.
The DTO said that most of the people who applied for smart card revealed on being questioned that they did not go to Manipur or Nagaland to obtain their licences. This brought to the fore the issue of bogus driving licences being made with the help of agents.
“Data was not available online as most of the licences were of the laminated type. The process of converting them into smart cards was accordingly put on hold. More than 40,000 such licences are lying in my office,” Mr. Mannan said.
Smart cards
The smart cards would be issued once his counterparts in Manipur and Nagaland confirm the authenticity of the driving licences purportedly issued from their offices, he said.
Officials said the licences will be cancelled, as per the Motor Vehicles Act, if they are not found to be genuine. People can reapply online for fresh smart card licences.
