Acute snags in driver's license process needs reform<\/p>\n
By K. Basrie<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There's a joke among police-beat reporters about
\npolice cadets: Most parents of police cadets always pray for the
\nsame thing -- that their sons will be assigned to the driver's
\nlicense service bureau.<\/p>\n
The joke might be untrue, but it is no longer a secret among
\npolice officers that working at the service bureau is a
\nguaranteed way of getting wealthy.<\/p>\n
It is easy to spot officials and civil servants at the bureau
\nin Jakarta, without fear, asking for bribes from scalpers and
\napplicants for a smooth and speedy procedure.<\/p>\n
Applicants frequently end up paying twice to five times the
\nofficial rate of Rp 62,500, which includes Rp 52,500 for
\napplication forms and Rp 10,000 for insurance.<\/p>\n
The \"extra charges\" sometimes please well-to-do applicants who
\nhate waiting and queuing, with some of them not knowing how to
\ndrive properly.<\/p>\n
However, even poor applicants, such as job seekers and truck
\ndrivers, sometimes have no way of avoiding the horrible
\nprocedures, which have almost become a tradition at driver's
\nlicense bureaus all over the country.<\/p>\n
Although there are large signs at the entrance gates of the
\nlicense offices warning applicants not to deal with scalpers,
\nthey are essentially meaningless, even to the officials.<\/p>\n
Applicants who choose to heed the warning and ignore the
\ngestures from officers asking for grease money should be extra
\npatient and be prepared to be ignored.<\/p>\n
Although one might wind up saving thousands of rupiah if they
\ndecide to pay the bribes alone, which involves paying extra
\n\"fees\" at every booth, they will have to wait much longer than
\nthose who use the \"third party\" service.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the police force have vowed many times to rid the
\narea of crooked officers and greedy scalpers.<\/p>\n
At Jakarta's license bureau, which receives the largest number
\nof applicants, police conducted a raid on dozens of male and
\nfemale scalpers last year. A few weeks later, the same faces
\nappeared again at the bureau.<\/p>\n
New office<\/p>\n
The newly opened office of the Jakarta license bureau on Jl.
\nDaan Mogot in West Jakarta is also designed to help limit the
\noperations of brokers and \"bad\" officers.<\/p>\n
\"I dispatch almost one-third of my 200 personnel here to drive
\nout scalpers and observe the on-duty officers,\" the head of the
\nsection, Maj. Velino, said last week.<\/p>\n
However, their presence is apparently not a guarantee to free
\nthe service from brokers. Dozens of scalpers could still be found
\noffering a speedy service to people at the license bureau.
\nAlthough they do not insist on people using their services, their
\npresence gives a bad image to the police force as a whole, due to
\nthe scalpers' conspiracy with the crooked officers and civilian
\npersonnel at the bureau.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of other scalpers open services in their homes.<\/p>\n
\"The police are never serious about kicking us out because
\ntheir earnings also depend on us,\" said a senior scalper.<\/p>\n
When asked where these extra earinings went, both government
\nemployees and scalpers replied that the illegal fees were equally
\ndistributed among officials in charge at different booths.
\nAccording to most of the scalpers, who all refused to be named,
\nalmost 80 percent of the extra fees collected from applicants are
\nhanded out to officers and civilian personnel in this manner.<\/p>\n
\"How could we satisfy our customers if they have to face the
\nsame complicated procedures and waste their time here like those
\nfaced by the 'ordinary' applicants?\" said a scalper. \"That's why
\nwe need extra money to bribe different officers so that they
\ncould help speed up the process of our customers' documents,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
However, the uniformed and plainclothes officers also have
\ntheir own ways of finding their own customers, in order to earn
\nmore money.<\/p>\n
A young applicant, Taufik from Tangerang, said he paid Rp
\n190,000, far above the normal fee of Rp 62,500, to a female
\nsergeant major for a license allowing him to drive passenger cars
\nor other light vehicles (locally called SIM A).<\/p>\n
\"I didn't have to take any tests, practice driving, or go
\nthrough tiresome procedures. All I had to do was simply wait for
\nher to call me, have my picture taken and wait for my license to
\nbe printed,\" Taufik told the Post.<\/p>\n
He said the whole process took about two hours, compared to a
\nminimum of four hours that most ordinary applicants have to
\nendure.<\/p>\n
Big money<\/p>\n
Of course, the female sergeant dealt with more than one
\napplicant that day and was not the only officer illegally taking
\nextra money from the people.<\/p>\n
One could only imagine how much money is contributed to the
\nscalpers and corrupt officers every day if only half of the
\naverage 1,500 applicants per day process their licenses in
\naccordance with the procedures.<\/p>\n
\"It's not so easy to control all my officers and personnel
\nand, furthermore, crooked officers can be found at any
\ninstitutions,\" Velino said, when asked about the corrupt
\npractices.<\/p>\n
Due to the bribery system, applicants who follow the original
\nrules are often frustrated over the improper attitude of the
\nofficers, who give priority to documents attached with extra
\nrupiah and intentionally delay those without money.<\/p>\n
Similar situations can also found at other police driver's
\nlicense bureaus, in particular those located in big cities, where
\ncrooked officers and scalpers are inspired by public demand for
\nspeedy services.<\/p>\n
A senior police officer once said the corrupt system was
\ndeliberately needed to collect extra money to help finance the
\noperation of other bureaus in the police force, which for many
\nyears has received only small portions of the state budget.<\/p>\n
A large portion of the illegal money is also contributed to
\ngroups in the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n
In light of these problems, the public is calling for
\nsignificant improvement in the licensing service.<\/p>\n
If the police were capable of setting up special rapid
\nreaction units for handling crimes and traffic problems, they
\nshould also be able to establish a more rapid process in the
\nlicensing procedures.<\/p>\n
In order to accomplish this, the police force should also
\nimprove the employee's salaries, deploy disciplined military
\nprovost officers and hire independent personnel to control the
\non-duty personnel.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/acute-snags-in-drivers-license-process-needs-reform-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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