LUCKNOW: For those who have obtained a driving licence without passing the test, it is still not too late. Regional transport offices in the state are now going to ask licensees on phone or by mail to show up for the test.
For those who fail the test, regional inspectors and assistant regional transport officers (ARTOs) at the office concerned will face the heat whereas decision on validity of DL of those who cannot drive safe would be taken by the senior transport officers. "We have ordered random checks at regional offices to know whether or not they are conducting the mandatory driving test before issuing the DL," said transport commissioner,
K Ravinder Naik
. Any driving licence holder may be called in for the test, he added.
Transport department
has reiterated that ARTOs and RIs should find open grounds, roads less travelled or vacant spaces around offices to hold the driving test. "We have also written to the DMs to help us find such spaces," said the official.
In UP, it is common for applicants to obtain driving licence without clearing the mandatory driving test. About half the regional transport offices in the state don't have a testing track. Drawing '8', driving up a slope and sliding it back gently are the kind of tests a driving licence applicant is put to.
Lucknow's Mahanagar RTO is one such example. Some bigger centres like Noida receiving close to 300 DL applications daily do not have an office to call their own. Bareilly, Azamgarh, Muzaffarnagar, Banda and
Rampur
are other bigger centres where RTOs are situated in rented buildings. At some of these places, offices are on floors above the ground.
Out of 75 districts, RTOs in 20 districts work out of rented premises where there is crunch for space.
At least 39 manual testing tracks have been constructed in the state in last three years. While seven such tracks are under construction, RTOs in 15 districts have yet to get a track.