Gurgaon: A criminal case has been registered against nine people, including two former Regional Transport Authority (RTA) secretaries, for allegedly manipulating the registered weight limits of commercial vehicles in exchange for bribes.According to the FIR, officials at RTA office in Narnaul colluded with truck owners and middlemen between Jan 2021 and Dec 2022 to illegally increase the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of trucks, dumpers and trailers by up to 5.5 tonnes above manufacturer-approved specifications on Vahan portal.The accused allegedly charged Rs 20,000-25,000 per vehicle to alter registration records, enabling commercial vehicles to evade hefty overloading penalties.Investigators said the fraudulent entries resulted in substantial losses to the exchequer. The others against whom State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) has registered the case include transport inspectors, sub-inspectors and clerical staff.The FIR names former RTA secretaries Ajay Singh and Darshana Bhardwaj — both Haryana Civil Services officers — alleging that they approved weight alterations using OTP-based authorisations on Vahan portal. Ajay Singh approved alterations for 18 vehicles during his tenure, while Darshana Bhardwaj cleared 74 such cases without verifying physical compliance.The case has been registered at SV&ACB police station in the city under sections 166 (public servant disobeying law), 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of IPC.An ACB officer said, “The middlemen collected over Rs 20,000 from truck owners for every alteration. Officials then used the official Vahan portal to inflate the permissible weight of vehicles.”Investigators alleged that the manipulated entries allowed heavily loaded vehicles to operate with apparently valid registration certificates while bypassing ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) norms on axle and vehicle weight limits.The bureau also alleged that physical records relating to the alterations were destroyed to conceal the irregularities.The investigation found significant discrepancies between manufacturer specifications and vehicle details recorded on Vahan portal. For instance, identical Tata truck and dumper models that were registered elsewhere with a maximum gross vehicle weight of 47,500 kg were allegedly approved in Narnaul for 52,500 kg.Investigators have also relied on digital evidence, including OTP audit trails linked to the mobile numbers of the accused officials, discrepancies between OEM specifications and portal records and the disappearance of physical alteration files from RTA records.Under the Motor Vehicles Act, vehicles exceeding the prescribed weight limit attract a penalty of Rs 20,000 for the first excess tonne and Rs 2,000 for every additional tonne. By increasing the permissible GVW on paper by about five tonnes, vehicle owners could avoid penalties of nearly Rs 28,000 in each instance of overloading, officials said.Among the other accused are transport sub-inspectors Rahul, Sant Kumar, Sanjay and Narendra Saini, transport inspectors Rajesh Kumar and Jitendra Tanwar and clerk Lokesh. The bureau alleged that they processed alteration requests, generated OTPs, facilitated unauthorised modifications and, in some cases, destroyed physical records to eliminate evidence.The inquiry also found that former RTA secretary Gajendra Kumar (HPS) failed to exercise adequate supervisory control. While he has not been named as an accused in the FIR, the inquiry has recommended departmental proceedings against him under Rule 8 of the Haryana Civil Services Rules, 2016.ACB had received an anonymous complaint in 2022. The case was registered in July 2026. In the FIR, city ACB is the complainant.
