The Bund Garden police have initiated a probe into a forgery case involving misuse of the Regional Transport Office’s software to allot fitness certificates to nine commercial vehicles without any checks.
“The certificates were issued on November 17, 2022, but the forgery came to light earlier this month during the annual inspection of data. The forged fitness certificates were issued to autorickshaws, heavy vehicles and those over 15-year-old. The Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials approached us with their complaint on Friday,” said inspector Ashwini Satpute of the Bund Garden police.
RTO inspector Renuka Rathod lodged a complaint with the police. The RTO officials have identified the nine vehicles plying on roads without undergoing any fitness tests, posing a threat to commuters.
“As the RTO officials did not check these vehicles, it is not known if they are fit for use. Second, it has caused revenue losses to the government,” Satpute said.
“After verifying their records, the RTO officials realised that the vehicles never came to the RTO office. They never checked the vehicles, but the fitness certificates were issued,” Satpute said.
According to the FIR, the fraudster(s) misused the system, Citizens Portal, a software that maintains data of all vehicles. After gaining illegal access to the portal, the fraudster(s) approved the fitness certificates, signed the approval and took printouts.
“While checking records of fitness certificates, the RTO officials realised that someone misused the log-in and password details of the software and issued the forged fitness certificates on a single day. The RTO officials have identified the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer used to execute the crime. We are now trying to locate it,” Satpute said.
A senior RTO officer said, “Each officer has a specific login ID and password. It is suspected that someone regularly visiting the RTO office noted down the ID of an official and executed the forgery”.
