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BRTA fails to stop forgery of driving licences

Faizul Khan Tanim and Christine Wanner
Even though Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has taken steps to stop the forgery of driving licences, fake documents are easily available in the city.
Hundreds of people are driving with such licences. Moreover, there is an allegation that a section of dishonest BRIA officials grant licences to unskilled persons.
The BRTA has replaced paper licences by plastic cards with security codes and hologram amid strong opposition from the drivers who prefer to keep the paper licences.
This was sixyears ago. And
still now people say 90 percent of the driving licences are fake, an allegation BRIA officials always deny.
"This not realistic," SM Abdul Bari from BRTA says.
According to BRIA, there are 6 lakh driving licences and 8 lakh vehicles. Officials say the fake licences will be eliminated within the next two years.
However, both BRTA officials and drivers admitted the fact that the number of counterfeit licences continues to rise as most drivers who attend the driving tests are illiterate and they fail to study the rules of driving.
These drivers however manage licences by bribing
the licensing authorities.
Abdul Kalam, a CNG autorickshaw driver, says, "There are three types of tests -- written, viva and the field test Failing in any of these, we are given the opportunity to resiL"
"But it is even easier to obtain a licence by paying a certain amount of money to the officer concerned. That is what we have practised so far," he added.
Both the drivers and the middlemen say that forged plastic card and paper licences are available. As getting a licence after passing BRIA tests in Dhaka is a bit difficult, some people prefer to go to other districts to obtainlicence.
Driver Haider from
Mohakhali says, "If we can't obtain licences from Dhaka, we go to Manikganj or elsewhere to get an original licence without sitting for tests. One has topay around Tk 5,000 for obtaining such a licence."
The BREA officials however declined to make com-mentson th eseallegations.
On a question about the driving ordinance being outdated, Shaliidul Azam, motor vehicle inspector of BRIA, said die ordinance of 1983 needs major update as soonaspossible.
"Over the years the traffic system and rules have changed a lot and it is high time for the government to
take urgent steps to formulate a new road safety strategy," headded.
Leading taxicab companies allege that die BRTA driving test system is not reliable as most drivers fail to properly drive a car. But the BRTA denied such allegation.
Kazi Fahadur Rahman, a resident in Gulshan said; "My perfomtance in die tests was quite good, yet 1 failed. Then 1 hadtositforthesecondtimeand some people in the BRIA asked me to bribe the officials in order tosecureapassinggrade”
"Spending Tk 5,000 is much easier to receive an original licence when there is practically no value Of such driving tests," he concluded.