Sir,

If you run a commercial fleet, you are intimately familiar with the mandatory ‘extra grease’ at the local RTO. As a community, we made a cynical peace with this reality.

We accepted that official fees were merely suggestions and the real cost of getting a National Permit involved a predictable local ‘facilitation fee.’ It was corrupt, but it was standardised and it kept wheels turning.

That predictable equilibrium has ground to a complete halt. Following the recent shuffle of office-bearers, permit renewals have hit a brick wall.

Applications collect dust while trucks sit idle, racking up loan EMIs and penalty charges. The cause isn’t a technical glitch. It is a dispute over market valuation.

Corridor talk confirms that newly appointed officers find the long-standing “Mysuru rate card” beneath them. They are attempting to unilaterally recalibrate tariffs, demanding inflated ‘Bengaluru rates.’

What was a routine transaction has turned into a high-stakes negotiation over profit margins.

Perhaps our newly posted officers could kindly organise a joint meeting with fleet owners to formally publish their revised, Bengaluru-standard rate card, complete with a downloadable PDF and clear slab breakdowns, so that working citizens can plan their operating budgets.

— A Frustrated Fleet Operator

Mysuru

5.9.2026