FRSC issues 20,000 licences, queries sale of highway code

THE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has declared illegal the purchase of highway code and the N100 allegedly being charged for laminating the temporary driver's licence.The Deputy Corps Public Education Officer of the FRSC, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, told The Guardian that since applicants were expected to be issued the permanent licences within 60 days, there was no need for the lamination of the temporary one.'Drivers are expected to carry the temporary licence for about 60 days from the period of the physical data capturing before they are issued the original, why then must it be laminated'.'Nobody should be forced to go through this process as it is nothing but illegal. We have, due to various complaints reaching us, warned our personnel not to beinvolved in this act as anybody found to be compelling applicants to part with extra monies, besides those paid at the banks, would be severely dealt with', Kazeem said.On the alleged compulsory purchase of the highway code by applicants at the agency's formations, he explained that buying the code was optional.Kazeem also explained that the alleged lamination of the temporary licences within the data capturing offices was illegal.He said no fewer than 20,236 drivers' licenceshad been processed nationwide since the two chambers of the National Assembly resolved the vehicle and drivers' licence issuesin July 2012.Kazeem explained that out of the figure, about 3,000 were new issuances while others were renewals.He said about 6,170 copies, comprising both new and renewals, were processed in Lagos, adding that more would be processed in due course.He explained that men of the service were committed to ensuring swift turnaround time for licensing procedures across the country.In a recent interview with The Guardian, some driver's licence applicants had alleged thatdespite following all the laid down procedures, including the payment of N6,350 at the bank, they were compelled to make more payments at the FRSC and Vehicle Inspection Officers location at the old secretariat, Ikeja.One of the driver's licence applicants, who declined to give his name, said:'After completing my on-line registration, I approached United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Oba Akran branch, to make payment.I paid N6,000 for application charges, N250 for transaction charges, N100 for service charges, making a total of N6,350.'Surprisingly, when I got to the VIO Office at the old secretariat, I was asked to pay N100 'testing fee' and N500 for an enlightenmenthandbook translated into a VCD. As if that was not enough, when I got to the FRSC, the officers demanded N100 for lamination and N500 for highway code.'What are the application and transaction charges for' This is not fair. I suspect that the FRSC and the VIO are deliberately making the system cumbersome.
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