Cashing in on a clause in the order, allowing vehicle-owners to authorise anybody to carry out his or her work, related to depositing of road tax etc, at the RTO, the agents have rendered the fiat almost ineffective.

When questioned, acting Regional Transport Officer D L Pandya expressed his helplessness, claiming that though he had implemented the fiat and even ordered his staff against entertaining agents, it was the authority letters of their clients which tied the officials' hands.

When pointed that a number of agents were operating from outside the premises of the RTO, Pandya said that he was not authorised to control their activities there. ``But we have totally restricted their operations within the premises of our office'', he stressed.

When asked about impact of the agents' activities on the revenue collection on Monday, he said that the same -- which was about Rs 20 lakh daily -- was likely to nosedive because of restrictions imposed on the agents. However, it would become normal after a few days, after people learn to operate under new system, he added.

Dinubhai Trivedi, President of Baroda Automobile Advisers' Association -- a body of agents operating at the RTO here -- while pointing out that there was no provision in Motor Vehicle Act, 1986, to impose restrictions on agents, alleged, ``The government has buckled to the pressure of a section of class III employees who wanted to scrap the agent system for obvious reasons''.

Defending the agent system, Trivedi claimed that the agents provided vital services to the people by carrying out their miscellaneous works at the RTO. The recent fiat would create more problems for people and also increase underhand dealing, he added.