It is disturbing to note that following Friday’s enforcement of the Road Transport Act 2018 having provisions for tougher punishment and fines – the number of licence seekers as well as licence brokers has spurted in and around all three premises of the BRTA in the capital.

These agents are promising, for a hefty fee, the drivers to help them get their licences even if they fail in their driving tests. There is no dearth of people bereft of morality in this country. These dubious people are always looking for opportunities to indulge in dubious deals to serve their purpose. And especially, in our transport sector morality or values have taken the back seat long ago.

Getting a driving licence through agents using backdoor channels is too easy by spending extra money, but it is hard to get a licence from BRTA offices in a legal way. Many licence seekers alleged that BRTA officials are not at all interested to work for the applicants following legal procedures.

The legal procedure of issuing licence takes around five to seven months and costs Tk. 2,024 (for Learner 345+ and for smart card driving license 1,679) for professional driving licence and Tk. 2,887 for non-professional driving licence. Applicants require passing a driving test for their licence, but the test can be bypassed if agents are hired to acquire the licence through backdoor channels. It is time BRTA addresses these mismanagement and irregularities with an iron fist.

There is no lack of funds, since BRTA earns a huge sum for registering vehicles (which has increased exponentially) every year. Rather, it is the lack of political will that is to blame. It is now up to policymakers to expedite the recruitment of an adequate number of vehicle inspectors, so that BRTA can properly scrutinise automobiles and heavier transports before issuing and renewing driving licenses, fitness of vehicles, and route permits.

It is very unfortunate that the office that is being run with the taxpayers’ money should reach such a stage.  Successive governments have attempted to fight corruption in various sectors with no tangible success. Shady deals expose the common people to suffering while the persons in high positions reap the benefits.

By bringing discipline, accountability and transparency at various government offices corruption can be checked remarkably. Cooperation of the taxpayers along with the government efforts is needed for achieving this goal.

The government should show zero tolerance against corruption. Transparency and accountability are the need of the hour to regulate the BRTA, and all government offices for that matter.