Annual 29 lakh RTO applications to be processed from home now, Mann-Kejriwal eradicate corruption with ‘1076’ faceless service: Harmeet Sandhu

Tarn Taran(The Uttam Hindu): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu has hailed the launch of faceless RTO services in Punjab as a historic and revolutionary step. He said that AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann have symbolically locked the RTO office in Ludhiana, marking the end of corruption, harassment, and the middleman culture in the state.

In a press statement, Sandhu said that Punjab has now become the first state in India where citizens will no longer have to run around government offices for work related to the Transport Department. “Now, by simply dialing 1076, government staff will come to people’s homes to complete their work,” he said. The AAP leader added that 56 key services related to driving licenses and vehicle registration have now been made completely faceless, giving people real freedom from corruption, inconvenience, and agents.

Citing data, Sandhu highlighted the magnitude of this change, stating that during the financial year 2024–25 alone, the Transport Department processed 29,23,390 applications, including 19,63,209 for vehicle registration and 9,60,181 for driving licenses. “Just imagine how much hardship and corruption people had to face earlier to get such a huge number of genuine applications processed. But now, the Mann government has turned the entire system into one that truly serves the people,” he said.

Supporting Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s statement, Sandhu remarked, “It is true that earlier governments used to cut ribbons to trouble people, while the AAP government is locking up offices that had become dens of corruption, to make people’s lives easier.” He further said that just as the Mann government had earlier shut down 19 toll plazas across Punjab to end the unnecessary looting of the public, the closure of RTO offices has now permanently eliminated the exploitation by middlemen. “This is the real digital revolution that empowers the common man,” he declared.

Sandhu clarified that no employee of the Transport Department would lose their job due to this decision; instead, the government will redeploy them in other departments according to their skills. He also informed that to ensure a smooth transition and public convenience, special help desks have been set up at RTO offices for the first 15 days, so that no citizen faces any difficulty. He urged the people of Punjab to take full advantage of this historic, people-centric initiative introduced by the Mann government.