The Punjab Driving Licence Scam
Automated driving test tracks were meant to remove human discretion — and the bribes that came with it — from getting a licence. Investigators found agents and RTO staff were simply copy-pasting old footage of drivers who had actually passed onto the files of new applicants who never took the test at all.
The Promise
“Automated driving test tracks will ensure every licence applicant is tested objectively on their driving ability, removing discretion and the scope for corruption from licence issuance.”
— Punjab Transport Department, State department responsible for regional transport authorities and driving-test infrastructure · 1 January 2020
This reflects the general rationale publicly given for automating driving tests across Punjab's RTOs, rather than a specific quoted departmental pledge, since this entry has not reviewed a specific departmental order or press statement to that effect.
The Standard
That driving licences would be issued only to applicants who actually passed a genuine, unmanipulated automated driving test at one of Punjab's RTO test tracks.
Central Motor Vehicles Rules governing the issuance of driving licences, and Punjab's own automated-test infrastructure introduced to enforce them.
In force from 1 January 2020
The Reality
In early April 2025, Punjab's Vigilance Bureau conducted raids across Regional Transport Officer (RTO) offices and driving-test centres statewide and found that agents, working in collusion with RTO officials, were issuing licences to applicants who had never taken a genuine test — in many cases by copy-pasting old video footage of candidates who had actually passed the automated test and uploading it under the names of new applicants, or by using proxy drivers to take the test on an applicant's behalf. A total of 16 FIRs were registered and 24 people arrested, including private agents and government employees; Nawanshahr Assistant Transport Officer Ramandeep Singh Dhillon was among those arrested, while RTO officials Pardeep Singh Dhillon (Mohali) and Ravinder Kumar Bansal (Nawanshahr) were named as absconding. On 25 April 2025, the state government suspended the Vigilance Bureau's own Chief Director, SPS Parmar, along with an SSP and an AIG, over an alleged failure to act promptly on the scam despite being aware of it. Functioning at the state's 32 automated driving-test tracks was reportedly disrupted in the aftermath of the raids.
As of 25 April 2025
The Gap
Bars share a single zero-based scale. No axis truncation is used to exaggerate or minimize the gap between the two figures.
Timeline
- MilestoneVigilance Bureau raids RTO offices statewide
Raids across Punjab's RTOs and driving-test centres uncover licences issued using copy-pasted footage and proxy test-takers.
- Status16 FIRs, 24 arrests
The Bureau registers 16 FIRs and arrests 24 people, including agents and RTO staff; two RTO officials are named as absconding.
- RevisionVigilance Bureau's own chief suspended
The state government suspends Vigilance Bureau Chief Director SPS Parmar and two other officers for failing to act on the scam despite being aware of it.
Legal Status
Sixteen FIRs remain under investigation or trial, with 24 people arrested and at least two RTO officials named as absconding as of this entry. No trial verdict has been confirmed. The suspended Vigilance Bureau officials' cases are a separate departmental matter. All named individuals are presumed innocent pending trial.
Arrested. No verdict; presumed innocent pending trial.
Named as absconding as of this entry. No verdict; presumed innocent pending trial.
Verdict
A real, well-documented scam in which the specific anti-corruption safeguard — automated, video-recorded driving tests — was itself defeated through video-file manipulation, compounded by the Vigilance Bureau's own leadership being suspended for allegedly sitting on the evidence.
The raids, FIR and arrest counts, and the subsequent suspension of Vigilance Bureau officials are corroborated across multiple Tribune reports, though this entry has not reviewed the FIRs themselves and could not confirm the trial's current status beyond April 2025.
What remains incomplete
- This entry has not reviewed any of the 16 FIRs or subsequent chargesheets directly.
- The current trial status of the 24 people arrested, and whether the two absconding RTO officials have since been apprehended, has not been confirmed beyond April 2025.
- No rupee estimate of total bribes collected across the scheme was available in the sources reviewed for this entry.
Sources
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