Panel slaps Rs 10K fine on RLA official in Chandigarh

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, November 14

The Chandigarh Right to Service Commission has imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the designated officer of the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) for not performing duties within the stipulated time limit.

In a complaint, Poonam Jamwal stated that she had applied for transfer of ownership of her vehicle (number CH01BB2279) on August 3.

She had submitted all documents required by uploading these on Parivahan Seva Portal. However, after August 14, it was showing online that documents verification has been pending since August 14.

As per the list of public services notified by the UT Administration, (“Transfer of ownership of vehicle within state….”), this service is required to be provided to any applicant within a period of 10 working days from the date of submission of application, but the Branch In-charge (Registration)-cum-Designated Officer (under the Right to Service Act), office of the RLA, has failed to provide the service to the applicant within the stipulated time limit, alleged the applicant.

Arun Kumar, Chief Commissioner, Chandigarh Right to Service Commission, by taking suo motu action under of the Punjab Right to Service Act 2011, called upon the Designated Officer to show cause as to why penal action should not be taken against him.

He was also directed to appear in person before the commission on November 9 along with complete record of the case as well as reply to the notice.

In his reply, the Designated Officer stated that initially, the applicant submitted application on July 27 for transfer of ownership of her vehicle. The process of verification of the application was done on October 23 and discrepancies in the documents were found and the objections were raised.

The officer said the applicant had not uploaded the requisite documents till November 8 and it was still pending.

The Chief Commissioner observed that it was apparent that initially, the Designated Officer had not paid any heed to the request of the applicant for 58 working days and this lapse on his part was viewed seriously by the panel.

The applicant said the office was in the habit of putting objections in piecemeal and also sit over the files without any cogent reason. The Designated Officer failed to rebut the version of the applicant.

After going through the documents and considering the verbal submissions made by both the parties, the Chief Commissioner came to the conclusion that there was an unjustified delay on the part of the Designated Officer in providing the service to the applicant within the stipulated time limit, i.e. within 10 working days from the submission of the application.

The objections, if any, should have been raised during this period only. However, the Designated Officer has not acted on the application and responded after a lapse of 58 working days, i.e. on October 23, which is against the spirit of Right to Service Act and is unacceptable.

The Chief Commissioner stated that “ends of the justice would be met, if a suitable penalty under the provisions of the Act ibid is imposed upon the Designated Officer for not performing duties within the stipulated time limit.”

Accordingly, keeping in view the pendency on his part, the Chief Commissioner imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on Jose George and directed the Deputy Commissioner to recover the amount of penalty from his next salary.