The findings of this report indicate that widespread corruption in the traffic department under Taliban control has significantly increased. Based on these findings, applicants receive driving licenses and vehicle permits without taking exams and by paying money. Meanwhile, citizens say this process has endangered the lives of thousands and turned roads into deadly scenes. In just the past month alone, in two traffic accidents on the Kabul-Herat highway, 97 people lost their lives, and more than 30 others were injured.
A citizen who recently obtained a driving license by paying money and without taking an exam says that the Taliban issue vehicle permits and driving licenses by receiving bribes and without any technical inspection. He confirms that applicants can receive driving licenses without taking exams by paying a 10,000 Afghani bribe.
Another source who asked for anonymity in the report says that during the previous government, applicants could obtain driving licenses by paying a three-thousand-Afghani bribe, but after the Taliban takeover, this amount was initially around seven thousand and 500 Afghanis and has now increased to ten thousand Afghanis.
This source adds: “Now the Taliban bring licenses to the applicant’s doorstep for seven thousand, and in recent cases even for ten thousand Afghanis. Converting vehicle permits is also very simple and does not require bringing the vehicle, because officials in the technical inspection department pass documents without examination in exchange for receiving money.”
The source notes: “At the beginning of the current year, his friend obtained a driving license for seven thousand and 500 Afghanis. The license was even delivered to the house of the applicant.” According to this source, the Taliban even personally process procedures and issue new vehicle permits for vehicles whose chassis have been altered by taking bribes.
This source says: “My friend had imported a new vehicle whose chassis had been altered, but the Taliban issued a new vehicle permit for him in exchange for receiving money. No one can prevent his work or create any harassment. The responsible person even told my friend that whenever you get stuck, call me or come to me to solve it.”
Additionally, another source confirms that applicants can even receive international driving licenses in absentia. He adds that not only driving licenses, but any type of required document is also issued upon payment of money and without the person’s presence.
He adds: “The matter of international driving licenses is also such that after receiving a regular license, a person can obtain an international license by paying an amount that was previously 10,000 Afghanis and has now reached 15,000 Afghanis. If the applicant is not present, they must pay between 300 to 500 US dollars to receive it.”
The source says: “Another thing that has now become possible is that they issue any type of document you want in absentia, including marriage certificates, identity cards, death certificates, single status certificates, divorce certificates, and any document that is needed.”
This is while citizens of the country say that the Taliban, through bribery and distributing driving licenses to people who are unaware of traffic laws, have played with the lives of thousands and turned roads into silent killing fields. According to them, Kabul and other provinces have witnessed bloody and heartbreaking incidents in recent days.
In the most recent case, following a traffic accident at Arghandi intersection in Kabul, 25 people died and nearly 30 others were injured. In addition, in another fatal accident in Herat during recent weeks, more than 70 people lost their lives. Also, in several other traffic incidents, six people died in Badakhshan and Balkh provinces, and 24 people were injured in Baghlan.
Previously, the Emergency Hospital in Kabul had announced that traffic incidents had increased fivefold since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan until now.
The Taliban have repeatedly claimed that they have eliminated corruption and bribery, but sources report a significant increase in corruption and bribery among members of this group under various titles. According to sources, the Taliban now receive bribes under names such as “gifts,” “sweets,” or through requests for valuable goods.
Sources had also confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that they received permits to build several floors in one of Kabul’s districts by paying money. According to them, Taliban officials freely take bribes and, after receiving them, provide security for construction workers so that other fighters of this group do not create harassment.
This is while Transparency International announced in a report last year that Afghanistan, under Taliban rule, has been placed among the most corrupt countries in the world. Based on this report, Afghanistan ranks 165th among 180 countries. The report’s findings show that the level of corruption in Afghanistan has increased compared to two years before.
Earlier, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) had reported that the Taliban had forcibly confiscated a significant portion of international aid and used it for their own purposes. The United Nations, while confirming this report, has announced that this group’s interference has severely problematized the aid delivery process.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
فساد در ترافیک طالبان؛ جواز رانندهگی بدون امتحان و با پول در خانه تحویل میشود
