Delhi 1st city to launch 'faceless' transport svcs, 1.6 mn benefited: CM

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the 'Faceless Services' that have benefitted 16 lakh people here was first launched in Delhi and now other states are also taking a cue from it and launching similar initiatives.

The 'faceless' services' of the transport department envisions providing contactless, queue-less and hassle-free services to applicants applying online and getting work done without visiting any of its office.

He inspected the Sarai Kale Khan RTO and said it has Delhi's first automated driving test track, which was built in 2018 and 12 other such tracks have been built all over Delhi since then.

Eight other automated tracks are in the process of being built, he said.

The chief minister said since the automated mechanism, the number of licences issued has gone down and around 50 per cent of the people have failed their driving test, pushing them to become better drivers in order to be able to earn a licence.

"Delhi is the first and only state in India to offer 'Faceless Services' which was kicked off through the Transport Department last year. I believe the 'faceless services' we have launched in Delhi are highly efficient and appreciable, and a first in the country," he said.

Following the footsteps of Delhi's model, other states, starting with Karnataka, are also introducing similar services, he said, adding that they will be more than happy to assist the governments that wish to implement this mechanism in their states.

"The nation will truly progress only when we all learn from each other's innovative ideas and good work happening in any of the states," he added.

Interestingly, the Maharashtra government on Thursday launched 'faceless Regional Transport Offices (RTOs)' to help citizens avail facilities linked to the sector better.

Through this arrangement, driving licences and several other services will be available to people who need not physically make the rounds of RTOs, Minister of State for Transport Satej Patil, who inaugurated the initiative, said.

Kerjriwal said that 'faceless services' in Delhi were launched on a pilot basis last year and it was implemented all across the national capital in August.

The introduction of 'faceless services' meant that people no longer needed to visit government offices and could get their work done online from the comforts of their home, he said.

"We marked this momentous occasion (the launch in August) by symbolically locking a government office to show that Delhi residents were not required to take offs from work or wander around offices, wait in long lines or chase 'dalals' (touts).

"Today, around 7-8 months down the line, I visited the automated driving test track with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, to take stock of the progress in the work done," he added.

Recalling the earlier times, he said there are several counters here that were previously swarming with around 2,000 people every day, crowded with long lines and people would have to take an off from work and go through an arduous process, causing them a great deal of inconvenience.

"Hardly 50-100 people visit the premises now for inquiries as all the work has been shifted online now," he said.

Hghlighting the fact that since the trial, about 16 lakh Delhiites have taken advantage of the faceless services, the chief minister said "they can imagine how many man hours have been saved as a result of this, and how much of a relief this has served for the people of Delhi".

"Similarly, we have also made the vehicle registration procedure efficient by authorising the dealers to issue the documents.

"Hence the added step of making the rounds of government offices to get vehicle registration documents will be eliminated, and hence a level of corruption will be wiped out. Many of these steps involved middlemen and bribery, which we have cut at the source," he said.

Reiterating that theirs is a hardcore honest government, Kejriwal said they have plugged the avenues and leakages for corruption and are not scared of any investigation or arrests.

"It was said that the corruption and bribes collected by low-level officers goes all the way to the top to the highest level of authority. Now that no one at the higher levels tolerates corruption, no one at the lower levels needs to collect bribes either," he said.

"Earlier, a lot of people would catch hold of agents to obtain a driving licence without taking the test. However, this is now impossible given the kind of technology which is in place at this centre. The entire system is now transparent. Only those who know how to drive well will get licences now," he said.