Kerala RTO Officers Get Caught For Corruption In Major Vigilance Crackdown
Corruption has lately been on the rise in many parts of the country. Recently, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau carried out raids in various RT offices in Kerala, unearthing a chain of bribery and corruption. Illegal financial transactions involving 21 officials have been exposed at various Regional Transport Offices (RTO) in the South Indian state. The larger share of these bribes were reportedly received through Google Pay from middlemen and agents.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau named the crackdown 'Operation Clean Wheels', and planned it strategically to avoid any loopholes for those at fault to escape. It was launched on Saturday at around 4:30 pm.
This is in fact, the time when the middlemen and agents usually pay the officers. The timing thus helped in getting them caught off-guard. At least 11 have been detained as 'suspected intermediates'.
The vigilance department conducted raids at 81 RTOs simultaneously. More precisely, 17 RTOs and 64 Sub-Regional Transport Offices (SRTOs). These inspections even continued into Sunday morning.
Sources within the department said that digital evidence have been secured from the RT offices. These include screenshots of Google Pay transactions among others. Reports say that these amounted to Rs 7,84,598. "The amount is merely the iceberg’s tip” a senior official reportedly told the media. In an interesting turn of events, the officials at Nilambur SRTO reportedly threw Rs 49,300 'hastily out of the window' to save themselves during the inspection.
Additionally, 1.4 lakh rupees was seized from various agents. Clerical and enforcement RTO officials reportedly benefited from these transactions.
In Kerala, a network of “dishonest” MVD officials have allegedly been taking bribes to grant fitness certificates to allow old vehicles to stay on the roads. Some officials have also been charging bribes to issue driving licenses to aspirants, by letting them pass by conducting 'perfunctory examinations'. Issuing licenses to the undeserving can be dangerous to pedestrians and motorists around.
Officials have revealed that re-registration of ageing vehicles, issuance of fitness certificates, permits for lorries and buses were the other areas of corruption.
MV Official-Agent Nexus
Officers involved in this corruption allegedly worked with agents and middlemen to carry out these transactions. The agents used to collect the money from service seekers and then transferred it 'secretly' to the inspectors on weekends (saturdays), after keeping their cuts to themselves. These transactions were done through UPI, and the same will now serve as solid evidence.
Reports say that many RTOs in Kerala used to reject online applications for registering new vehicles or transferring ownership citing minor errors and would then force the applicant to approach the RTO in person. There, they would have to deal with agents to get the service delivered. While this isn't the case with every RTO, the practice does exist.
Once a request is taken up by an agent, things get done quickly- says an online report. “Scores of independent applications, including for license renewal, learner’s license, international license and no objection certificate for inter-State vehicle transfers, gathered dust in RTO offices pending clearance because no middleman sponsored them,” an investigator told the Hindu.
Kochi MVI Allegedly Taken 8 Lakh In Bribe!
The crackdown has also exposed an MV Inspector in Kakkanad, Kochi. He allegedly took bribes amounting to 8 lakh rupees, likely over the past 1-2 years. The exact timeline of this is yet to surface. The aforementioned money was transferred through UPI, from accounts of various driving schools and car dealers of the place.