Transactions come to halt in RTO’s office

Tirupati: With junior staff and outsourcing employees actively taking part in pro-Samaikyandhra agitations for the past four weeks, all transactions have come to an end at Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Tirupati. The office has remained closed for the last three days as officials joined the stir.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Sunday, Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Prasad said the new registrations would be around 200 on any given day but there has been no activity at the office since July 31. No transaction took place in the last 26 days, he added.

“About 150 two-wheelers and around 50 other vehicles come for registration every day. As the RTO employees were on indefinite strike for the cause of unified Andhra Pradesh, no work is done at the office,’’ he said. Apart from vehicle registrations, activities such as issuance of driving licenses, renewal or issuance of fitness certificate and change of address were not done due to the stir, he added.

“With the formation of Special Action Committee for all Gazetted Officers under Tirupati Revenue Division, I was also forced to join the stir for the common cause,” the RTO stated. Explaining about the surprise checks on vehicles at field level, he said there is no monitoring system as all the employees are on indefinite strike. Nobody knows about the illegal vehicles and illegal transportation of goods illegally, he added. The Tirupati RTO Office lost revenues of about Rs 8 crore so far and the amount would increase if the strike continued for some more days. The loss of revenue in transport department is a loss to the State’s economy and the entire transport staff will have to work vigorously to bring all the transactions on track once the agitations are over.