KARACHI, June 8: Obtaining a driving licence in the normal way is an uphill task as it is. But it is cumbersome even after hiring the services of an agent at the Driving Licence branch in Clifton, it has emerged.

If an applicant works from 9am to 5pm at a private or public concern, he or she has to take a day off from work to go through the day-long nerve-wracking formalities, despite the ‘blessings’ of an agent. The applicant – as he would have passed the tests thanks to the agent – will be called the next day (another day off) to get the licence.

However, one will have to keep coming to the DL branch for a week and may still not get the licence if the services of an agent are not acquired, says a disappointed young man, wiping sweat off his forehead as comes out of the waiting hall, packed with some 100 licence-seekers, the last stage of getting a licence after being photographed. An agent, hired at Rs1,200 or Rs1,000, may also take up to six hours to get the applicant through the process.

The agents keep a low profile outside the driving licence office and operate in a discreet manner. Without the assistance of an agent, one would fail in any of the tests that take place inside, an agent said. Previously, agents used to charge around Rs500 and even less, but they also “have families to feed and prices are increasing rapidly,” argued an agent. None of the agents settles for anything less than Rs1,000, which is almost a standard rate.

There is, however, a strict ban on the agents entering the DL branch. Close-circuit cameras are installed, focusing on the gates and the road outside of the branch.

However, how the agents manage to get their work done without entering the DL office is a pertinent question. “They call their customers on the cellphone once they are inside, or they call the officer inside describing the name and appearance of the candidate who will approach him to get a clean bill of health,” said Ahmed Hasan, who obtained his licence through an agent.

The most arduous part of the lengthy process is the waiting game in a small room, where chairs are lined and there is no air-conditioning. At any given time over 100 persons sit in the room perspiring badly. In such a situation, if a traffic official goes missing from his seat, things go from bad to worse.

The lunch break, from 1pm to 2pm or beyond, is the most crucial time when the taxpayers sit in the waiting hall, cursing themselves as well as the system. In the hot, humid summer, about 100 persons stuffed in a small room is beyond one’s imagination. People in the waiting hall often get nauseous while waiting for their turn.

A licence-seeker told Dawn that he had tried his best to obtain a licence without paying the agents, but he failed despite 15 days’ efforts.

“After clearing all the hurdles, the officials failed me in one or the other of the traffic signs’ tests or the medical examination. Finally, when I hired the expertise of an agent and paid him Rs1,000, the licence was issued the very next day,” said Zeeshan Siddiqui. He was asked for Rs1,200, but they settled at Rs1,000 for the job.

He also said that Rs125 was charged by officials, paid inside the driving licence office, but no receipt was issued for it. They say Rs125 is charged for the new card licence.

Recently, the SP for driving licences suspended four officials for their alleged links with the agent mafia.

However, the ordeal of Mr Siddiqui didn’t end there. When he went to receive his licence the next day, two hours were wasted as the relevant police official failed to find the licence, saying that he had applied for the licence on the SP quota. However, when he protested vociferously, the officials did manage to ‘find’ the licence, Mr Siddiqui said.