Vehicle-linked services go online, CM terms move end of graft era

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday launched an initiative providing vehicle-related services online and at Sewa Kendras in the state.

With this initiative, 56 services — including making of driving licences, vehicle registration certificates (RCs), fitness tests and challan payments — will now be accessible through 544 Sewa Kendras or the 1076 helpline.

According to officials, people will no longer be required to visit Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) or cyber cafés for documentation and verification, a process that previously involved multiple visits and long queues.

Symbolically locking a transport office, Mann declared that it ended the era marked by corruption, involvement of middlemen and bureaucratic inconvenience.

“Today, we end the struggle of people who stood in long queues, faced agents and paid bribes just to get basic vehicle-related services,” he said.

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who accompanied Mann, termed the move a “digital revolution to empower the common man”.

“Today, people have got freedom from corruption, inconvenience and middlemen,” he said. Mann stressed that government employee wouldn’t lose their jobs, instead they would be redeployed based on their qualifications.

The Chief Minister said during 2024–25, the Transport Department processed over 29 lakh applications, nearly 20 lakh for RCs and over 9 lakh for driving licences, necessitating a citizen-friendly model.

“To ease the transition, help desks will operate at RTOsfor the first 15 days to guide citizens through the new system,” he said.

‘Propaganda to mislead’

Meanwhile, Union Minister and BJP leader Ravneet Bittu termed the locking of the RTO office by the CM a “propaganda” to mislead people.

“The action is the preparation by the incompetent government to once again sell off properties,” he alleged.