55% driving schools blacklisted by RTO

JAIPUR: Errant driving schools in the city are facing the heat. The regional transport office (RTO) has decided to crack the whip against all driving schools with untrained staff, malfunctioning vehicles and various other snags, suspending the licenses of 33 such bodies.
After the RTO order, 55% of driving schools won't be able to admit students for next six months as Jaipur has around 60 motor driving schools in total.
Sources told TOI that children of senior IPS and IAS officers learning to drive in some of these schools had criticized the quality of training they were receiving. The officers reportedly contacted the RTO and sought action against these driving schools. In fact, many "trainees" of these institutes had approached state transport minister Virendra Beniwal about a fortnight back and urged him to streamline these schools.
Many of the complainants had alleged that a number of these driving schools had untrained staff on the rolls, charged hefty fees and provided malfunctioning vehicles to the trainees.
"Based on various complaints, we have suspended the licenses of the driving schools for the next six months. After six months they will have to comply with all the norms including hiring trained staff, avoiding overcharging and maintaining road-fit vehicles and will have to reapply for the license," B L Jatawat,regional transport officer, told TOI.
The overall aim of the RTO is to streamline driving schools across the city, senior officers said. In the future, the RTO is also planning to conduct raids on driving schools to nail schools running without licenses.
The most common grouse was the overcharging. "The fees of driving schools varies from Rs 1,500 for 15 days to Rs 2,000 per month. However some of schools were charging as much as Rs 2,500 per fortnight to Rs 3,000 a month," said a senior officer.