Drivers suffer as wait for ‘smart’ licences wears on

Drivers, including the ones looking to renew their licences, have been crowding the circles and district offices of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority every day with hopes of acquiring smart licences. But they keep returning home empty-handed.

Obaidur Masumand Faysal Atikbdnews24.com
Published : 23 Nov 2020, 06:02 PM
Updated : 23 Nov 2020, 06:02 PM

Their suffering is a result of the BRTA’s decision to stop issuing smart licences, with the last ones handed out more than one and a half years ago.

According to the BRTA, 750,000 are waiting for their smart driving licences. These drivers are currently driving with the BRTA's 'acknowledgment slip.’

Drivers say they are unable to apply for public and private jobs as they do not possess the smart cards. The ones looking to head overseas are suffering too.

Zakir Hossain, a resident of the airport area, applied for a licence renewal in January last year. But the BRTA failed to issue his licence on three separate occasions. He visited the BRTA’s Mirpur office again on Nov 19, only to be given a new issue date.

Zakir is a professional driver working for various companies. He failed to secure permanent positions because of the licence issue.

“I applied for a job in a company. Now, they are telling me I need a smart card. Many have managed to secure jobs by showing their smart cards. But I am in trouble. I have been overlooked in many places for not having a smart card.”

Bus driver Al Amin had also visited the BRTA office on Nov 19 and learned that his card was yet to be issued. The issue date on his slip was subsequently extended once again.

“There is no end to problems with these paper slips. They have stapled 2-3 slips together. The papers are in really bad condition due to the exposure to rain on several occasions.”

Amin said his slips are in tatters, adding, “How can I show it to the police if they ever want to check it? The pieces will start to come off once opened. It’s also a problem keeping such large pieces of papers in the pocket. This wouldn’t have been an issue if I had the smart card.”

Khairul Islam, a driver with the Public Service Commission, said he took the driving licence test in February last year. The BRTA issued him a receipt after he passed the examination but he is yet to receive his smart licence.

"They are not handing out the licence and keep extending the issue date. The receipt is in a really poor state. I had to suffer a lot to get this paper. I am afraid it may get torn completely and become useless.”

Abdur Rahman, a resident of Mirpur’s Bhasantek, had passed his driving test at the BRTA grounds. But he has been unable to register for ride-sharing services as he did not receive his smart card.

“I was thinking of earning some money by driving in my spare time but I couldn’t do it because of the card.”

The BRTA started issuing smart driving licences with electronic chips from 2011. At present, there are around 2.7 million smart cardholders and close to 100,000 plastic cardholders.

An IT company called Tiger IT supplied over 1.3 million smart licences during the first phase of distribution and 1.5 million during the second phase over a period of five years.

As many as 1.5 million smart driving licences were distributed at the start of 2019 in the wake of the road safety movement, commencement of activities of various ride-sharing organisations and pressure from the law enforcement agencies, according to the BRTA.

When asked about the delay in issuing smart driving licences, BRTA Director (Operations) Sitangshu Shekhar Biswas said the authority had called for new tenders after Tiger IT ran out of cards. After the process of leasing started, it had to be cancelled twice. As a result, the distribution of smart cards hit another snag.

On Jul 29, India’s Madras Security Printers Pvt Ltd received a lease to make and distribute smart cards over the next five years. The company will issue 4 million driving licences and it will cost Tk 1.2 billion. In other words, the company will get Tk 300 for each card, according to Shitangshu.

The company will be able to start distributing new licences from December, he said.

Asked about the misery of the drivers looking to make a living overseas, he said some cards are still being reserved for them.

"We are issuing smart cards to outbound drivers if they apply with the required documents. However, these cards are not being issued to the ones staying in the country. The BRTA has also informed the police to accept temporary driving licences.”