Pune, August 7, 2023: Issuance of Registration Certificates (RCs) for vehicles, commonly known as smart cards, has been disrupted due to the absence of the Regional Transport Officer (RTO). Vehicle owners in the city are facing delays in getting their smart cards as the process of printing these essential documents has been disrupted. This situation has arisen after the retirement of former Regional Transport Officer Ajit Shinde on 31 July. Despite his departure, no successor has been appointed or announced, leading to a backlog of over 12,000 pending smart cards.

Smart cards are signed by the RTO, which is an important requirement for their validity. With no replacement for Shinde, the issuance of these cards has been stopped. The blow is not limited to registration certificates only; Citizens have also reported delays in getting driving licences.

Reports indicate that the delay in the appointment of the new RTO is linked to the recent decision of the state government to set up a separate RTO office for Pimpri Chinchwad. Due to this administrative change, the time limit to fill the vacant posts in RTO has become longer, due to which the public is facing more trouble.