Since the printing of smart card driving licence has stopped, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) cannot deliver driving licences. The BRTA authority says that the Dual Interface Polycarbonate cards have been sent to the ministry for approval.
Applicants say that they have been waiting for a long period. The temporary road permits are becoming dirty and unusable.
BRTA Secretary AKM Masudur Rahman said: “A request has been made to the ministry of transport to expedite their approval and once it’s received, a new tender will be called and the printing of the new cards will eventually begin."
“At present, the work is being done by Tiger IT and their tenure will end within two months.”
Sajjad Hossain applied for a learner licence in January and as per rules, he took the written, spoken and practical exams and passed. He also gave his fingerprints and photos and was supposed to get his licence on Jun 19. But he did not get it.
His temporary permit was extended till May 31, 2020. Sajjad, who rides a bike regularly, says: “The road laws are very strict and the police want to see my paper regularly and I have to show the temporary permit. By showing it too many times, the paper has become eroded.”
'Licence section officials tell us to extend the permit because we will get the licence after June, 2020,' said Sajjad.
The BRTA started the digital smart card driving licence with electric chips in 2011. From October, 2011 till June, 2019, 3,412,538 cards were made and distributed.
In the current fiscal year (2019-20), several hundred thousand applicants did not get licences.