Pune: The Bund Garden police have launched a probe into a forgery case involving misuse of the software of the Regional Transport Office to allot fitness certificates to nine commercial vehicles without any scrutiny.
“The certificates were issued on November 17, 2022, but the forgery came to light during the annual inspection of the data earlier this month. Autorickshaws, heavy vehicles and people above 15 years of age were issued fake fitness certificates. Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials approached us on Friday with their complaint,” said Inspector Ashwini Satpute of Bund Garden police.
RTO Inspector Renuka Rathod has lodged a complaint with the police. RTO officials have identified nine vehicles that are plying on the roads without any fitness tests, posing a threat to commuters.
“Since the RTO officials did not check these vehicles, it is not known whether they are fit for use or not. Second, it has resulted in loss of revenue to the government,” Satpute said.
“After verifying their records, the RTO officials realized that the vehicles never turned up at the RTO office. They never checked the vehicles, but fitness certificates were issued.
According to the FIR, the fraudsters misused the system, the Citizen Portal, a software that maintains data of all vehicles. After gaining illegal access to the portal, the fraudsters scanned the fitness certificates, signed the approvals and took printouts.
“While checking the records of fitness certificates, the RTO officials realized that someone misused the log-in and password details of the software and issued fake fitness certificates on the same day. RTO officials have identified the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer used to commit the crime. Now we are trying to find out.
A senior RTO official said, “Each official has a unique login ID and password. It is suspected that someone who is a regular visitor to the RTO office noted down the ID of an official and committed the forgery.”
“The certificates were issued on November 17, 2022, but the forgery came to light during the annual inspection of the data earlier this month. Autorickshaws, heavy vehicles and people above 15 years of age were issued fake fitness certificates. Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials approached us on Friday with their complaint,” said Inspector Ashwini Satpute of Bund Garden police.
RTO Inspector Renuka Rathod has lodged a complaint with the police. RTO officials have identified nine vehicles that are plying on the roads without any fitness tests, posing a threat to commuters.
“Since the RTO officials did not check these vehicles, it is not known whether they are fit for use or not. Second, it has resulted in loss of revenue to the government,” Satpute said.
“After verifying their records, the RTO officials realized that the vehicles never turned up at the RTO office. They never checked the vehicles, but fitness certificates were issued.
According to the FIR, the fraudsters misused the system, the Citizen Portal, a software that maintains data of all vehicles. After gaining illegal access to the portal, the fraudsters scanned the fitness certificates, signed the approvals and took printouts.
“While checking the records of fitness certificates, the RTO officials realized that someone misused the log-in and password details of the software and issued fake fitness certificates on the same day. RTO officials have identified the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer used to commit the crime. Now we are trying to find out.
A senior RTO official said, “Each official has a unique login ID and password. It is suspected that someone who is a regular visitor to the RTO office noted down the ID of an official and committed the forgery.”