One Third Of People Driving In India Have Fake Driving Licences, And Minister Nitin Gadkari Knows About It 

Speaking at an event organised by Federation of Auto Dealers’ Associations (FADA) at Nagpur, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that there are several MPs who are supporting corrupt practices of officials at RTO offices in India. This is breaking the Central government’s efforts to curb corruption at transport offices, he says.

He said that nearly 30 per cent of all driving licences in India were fake. He added that he had been informed about all the corrupt practices at RTO offices and the types of irregularities practised by certain dealers.

The New Indian Express quoted him as saying, “Driving licences are given without any verification. This causes death of around 1.5 lakh drivers in over 5 lakh road accidents every year. The Centre has proposed several changes in the Motor Vehicles Act to do away with corruption at RTOs and the automobile sector. The bill has been cleared by the Lok Sabha. I expect the Rajya Sabha to give its nod to the bill during this Winter session.”

Talking about the issue of high fuel prices, he said that the government planned to replace diesel with methanol. As many as 10 buses at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Guwahati will soon run on methanol.