Post office hassle awaits car tax payers

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Vehicle owners going to post offices to deposit tax renewal fees for their motor vehicles face untold sufferings as the post offices are failing to cope with the huge number of people queuing up.

This is likely to continue for at least two and a half months more till booths are installed nationwide for easing this suffering.

Vehicle owners have to stand in long queues for several hours to deposit their money and have the copy of the receipt. However, if one pays brokers there, his or her sufferings are gone in a jiffy as the agents maintain an unholy nexus with dishonest post office staff to do the job quickly.

Director General of Bangladesh Post Office M Mobasherur Rahman admitted that vehicle owners are facing problems while depositing fees and taxes at post offices. Since it takes about 30 minutes to process a single deposit at most post offices, people often take the illegal help of brokers to avoid standing in queue for a long time, he said.

Brokers in collusion with post office staffs earn money by getting the process done with the vehicle owner not having to stand in queue.

He, however, said the post office at Mirpur has installed computers recently to provide faster service to vehicle owners and the practice of brokers at the post office would die out within days since it takes very little time to process a deposit now.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) officials also admit this harassment and said they have already initiated a move to introduce online banking by appointing a vendor so that motor vehicles owners can deposit tax fees from certain booths to be set up at different districts in the country.

Presently people have to queue at the post office counters where the disposal rate is very slow because the man behind the counter has to receive the money, make a number of entries, issue token and perform other work in connection with the deposit. Thereafter, the staffs pass the papers to the post master concerned for his signature.

While this process goes on, people in the queue keep waiting for their turn and at the end of the day quite a good number of people fail to deposit the money as the counters close at a fixed time.

Car owner Anisur Rahman came all the way from Satkhira to deposit tax and fitness fees of his vehicle a few days ago. He thought he would return home completing his work in one day but the staff of the post office at Mirpur told him that money receipts were exhausted.

Like Anisur, around 50 others were also waiting in queue for their money receipt that the post office staff said would come from the General Post Office (GPO).

“Frustrated, I came out of the post office when a broker asked me to wait and he went inside the post office. Minutes later he returned and said he could manage a receipt if I pay him Tk 500,” Anisur said. When he agreed the broker managed a money receipt from inside and all his work done within half an hour.

A deputy director of BRTA unwilling to be named said motor vehicles owners sometimes have to wait for a long time to get tax tokens or other papers. This happens because the post office often takes even up to a week to provide one of the three money receipt to the BRTA.

As per the rules, the post office should provide the receipts to BRTA the same day, the deputy director said.

Upon every payment of fees or tax, the post office makes three money receipts–gives one to the owner of the vehicle, sends one to BRTA and keeps one for itself.

The government had earlier detected several cases of money embezzlement by the postal department.

Asked about the hassle people have been suffering every day, the deputy director said it is not the BRTA’s doing.

Now 94 post offices including 18 in the capital are attached to BRTA where motor vehicle owners can deposit their tax fees.

A number of vehicle owners said GPO takes cash while other post offices take bank drafts. “I used to deposit money in a post office at Gulshan where they accepted bank draft. Assuming that the GPO will also take the same, I went there with a bank draft but they asked me to deposit cash,” said a motorist.

BRTA sources said they have already published advertisement twice in newspapers seeking expression of interest for appointing a vendor who will open sufficient booths across the country where motor vehicles owners will be able to deposit tax fees.

After the first advertisement was published on June 5 five companies including a bank submitted applications. However, another advertisement was published on newspapers on June 29 asking interested companies to apply within July 25.

After the period, four to seven best applicants will be selected and will be requested to submit proposals and finally the lowest bidder will be appointed vendor. “We will complete everything in two to two and a half months,” the deputy director said.

The official said after the online system is introduced, the BRTA would be able to know everything after deposition of tax renewal fees. “It will let us know how many vehicles are plying without depositing tax and other fees,” the official added.

BRTA sources said the government last year earned around Tk 400 crore in taxes and registration, transfer, fitness certificate, route permit and driving licence fees.

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