Recently, a case of collective corruption within the Vehicle Management Division of the Traffic Police Detachment of Yuncheng City Public Security Bureau in Shanxi Province has been exposed. At least dozens of police officers in the local vehicle management system were implicated in this scandal. These public servants turned the service windows meant for the public into their own toll collection windows, setting up layers of checkpoints to extort money from non-compliant vehicles in exchange for a smooth inspection process, while making it difficult for compliant vehicles that did not pay up.
On January 6, a special program aired on official Chinese media revealing the collective corruption within the Vehicle Management Division of the Traffic Police Detachment of Yuncheng City Public Security Bureau in Shanxi Province. After being reported, at least 30 illegal police auxiliary officers in the local vehicle management system were dealt with.
Based on reports from the public in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, it was revealed that public servants at the local vehicle management office colluded with some vehicle inspection companies and motor vehicle agents to take kickbacks in handling operations such as vehicle registration, transfer, and annual inspection for overweight non-compliant vehicles, while causing delays and obstacles for compliant vehicles, forcing vehicle owners to pay extra to intermediaries, known as “vehicle runners,” to facilitate the process.
The situation exposed in the special program showed that police officers at different checkpoints expedited processing for those who paid kickbacks, allowing them to cut in line, while those who did not pay were forced to wait in line. Inspecting police officers who received kickbacks would pass unauthorized vehicles during inspections. If no kickback was given at reception desks, excuses like unclear handwriting or missing stamps would be used to create obstacles. The processing speed at document handling desks would significantly increase after receiving kickbacks. Although each position had different responsibilities, the practice of extorting money was the same across the board.
A specific case was highlighted in the program, where in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, runners would charge about a thousand yuan for registering a regular truck, while for non-compliant trucks, they demanded anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 yuan. Part of this money was used to bribe vehicle inspection companies to help overweight vehicles pass inspections by manipulating weight measurements at the scale, such as by adding a jack under the vehicle during weighing, or only weighing the front wheels.
Subsequently, runners would obtain fraudulent vehicle inspection reports and go to the vehicle management office to complete registration and annual inspection procedures by bribing the inspecting police officers to sign off and release the vehicles.
One police officer at a checking station in the Yuncheng City Vehicle Management Office received bribes totaling 1.654 million yuan in just four years.
The illegal actions in the vehicle management office have sparked strong public outrage and criticism.
The related reports have garnered attention and sparked discussions among internet users.
Many Weibo users commented, saying, “It’s a widespread phenomenon. Almost every place in the country is similar when you look into it.” “For vehicle transfers here, the windows are useless, but with a middleman outside, it’s done in a few minutes after paying money.”
“There is a strong demand to abolish vehicle annual inspections. Everyone knows the unwritten rule that annual inspections are just a way to extort money, as one external inspection can be charged for, why not others.”
Some netizens also expressed, “Now even auxiliary officers can appear on the same program on CCTV alongside officials at the ministerial level. The programs these days are all about grassroots individuals, are there not enough officials at the ministerial level to showcase?”