Sr citizen denied DL after 55 years and 14 renewals

Mysore, Sept 3: A Sr citizen in Mysore was denied a renewal of

by the RTO (West) after 55 years and 14 consecutive renewals. Surprisingly, the reason cited was the applicant being under-age when he first issued the DL in 1958.

One T.N Harin Nanja Raje Urs had submitted an application to the RTO for a DL renewal on July 15, 2013. Even after paying the prescribed fees and the submitted required documents, the DL did not arrive within 30 days, as promised. After waiting for 7 weeks, Raje went to the RTO To lodge a complaint. That is when he was informed that he had to re-apply fresh.

Speaking to the RTO, he came to know that he was 'under-aged' when he had issued the DL for the first time. Harin was 17 when he got his DL for light motor vehicles on May 16, 1958. Harin now has a question, why did not the authorities determine his ineligibility then or in the subsequant 14 renewals?

"It is not that I have hidden my actual age; the application form then had my actual DOB," he said.

One might remember a similar incident in Bangalore where a senior citizen of 70 was denied renewal of driving license after 54 years and 17 renewals. He had issued a DL for the first time in 1959. Consequently, the RTO officer said that his driving license bore an age below 18 years and the software will not accept anything below 18. Like Harin, he too was asked to apply afresh.

Meanwhile, an anxious Harin said,"I have been abiding by the law and had submitted for renewal of DL to the RTO days ahead of it getting expired. Now that it is past the expiry date, I feel as though I do not exist and am committing some serious offence. Hope the RTO understands my plight and issues me with a renewed license as applying for a new DL, right from obtaining a Learners' License is very tedious for a senior citizen. Also if they say it is a software problem, then may be the software must be fixed instead of harassing senior citizens".

OneIndia News