Patna: The Bihar Transport Department has resolved a technical issue that had left more than 30,000 online payment transactions pending, providing relief to thousands of vehicle owners, driving licence applicants and vehicle dealers across the state.
The issue had affected several transport-related services, including vehicle registration, driving licences, learning licences, e-challans, vehicle fitness, permits, pollution certificates and insurance-related processes. In several cases, payments were either not completed or had been made but their status had not been updated in the system, preventing subsequent procedures from moving forward.
Technical Issue During OGRAS-1 To OGRAS-2 Transition
The problem emerged during the transition from OGRAS-1 to OGRAS-2, the Revenue Management System (RMS) used for financial transactions associated with online transport services.
During the transition, the status of some transactions was not updated correctly. Consequently, transactions appeared as pending in the system even when payments had already been made.
The pending status created difficulties for vehicle owners, driving licence applicants and vehicle dealers, as several processes related to vehicles and licences could not proceed until the payment status was resolved.
API-Based Solution Developed With Finance Department And NIC
The Transport Department worked with the Finance Department and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to address the technical issue.
As part of the solution, an Application Programming Interface (API) was developed to improve coordination between VAHAN, Sarathi and OGRAS.
Following implementation of the API-based solution, the department systematically processed the pending payment transactions and resolved more than 30,000 cases.
The move is expected to allow transport-related applications that had been stalled because of payment-status issues to proceed.
Transport Secretary Says Citizens Will Benefit
Transport Secretary Raj Kumar said transport services are directly connected with citizens and that a technical problem after an online payment can cause unnecessary inconvenience.
He said the department took the issue seriously and worked with the Finance Department and NIC to develop a technical solution and clear the pending payment cases.
The secretary said the department’s objective was not only to resolve the technical problem but also to ensure that a citizen’s work does not remain pending after a payment has been made.
With more than 30,000 cases resolved, thousands of vehicle owners, licence applicants and vehicle dealers are expected to benefit.
Focus On Smoother Online Transport Services
State Transport Commissioner Arif Ahsan said the Transport Department is continuously working to provide more online and faceless services to citizens.
He said the API solution developed to improve technical coordination between OGRAS, VAHAN and Sarathi is an important step towards making online transport services smoother and more efficient.
Services That Will Benefit
The resolution of the pending payment cases is expected to facilitate several transport-related processes.
For vehicle registration, stalled processes affected by payment-status issues can now move forward. Similarly, driving licence and learning licence applications can proceed where payment was previously showing as pending.
The updated payment status will also facilitate further processing of e-challans, while payment-related hurdles in vehicle fitness and permit services are expected to be reduced.
Citizens facing payment-status issues related to pollution certificates, insurance and other online transport services will also benefit from the resolution.
Vehicle dealers are expected to get relief from payment-related obstacles affecting vehicle-related work, while citizens may face fewer delays and have less need to visit government offices to resolve payment-status problems.
