PEOPLE are selling their driver license points for money to motorists in Shenzhen and Dongguan, the Southern Metropolis Daily revealed yesterday.

    Each driver in China can get a total of 12 penalty points each year. Some drivers are appearing at police stations and taking the fall for other drivers in exchange for money. A license will be suspended by the police once a driver has 12 penalty points added to the license within a year. Drivers then need to retake driving tests to get their license back.

    A migrant worker in Shenzhen, surnamed Deng, put himself in a predicament by pretending to be a different driver and taking penalty points on his driver’s license.

    Deng was looking for a job in Longgang District on Nov. 3 last year when he saw an advertisement to make money by receiving penalty points for others.

    “I was thinking that I have never been punished for traffic violations and it was such a waste,” said Deng, adding that he wanted to earn the money by taking penalty points.

    He then contacted the number left on the flyer and told the person who answered the phone that he would like to receive nine penalty points on his driver’s license in exchange for 1,200 yuan (US$184.44). Deng agreed to meet the person at the Meilin Metro Station at 3 p.m. the same day.

    When Deng arrived, two men and another “seller” were waiting for him. However, the traffic violation system at Shenzhen’s traffic department was not working that day or the following day.

    The two men suggested Deng go to neighboring Dongguan to sell his points.

    Deng was given a Dongguan-registered driver’s license by the men and was told to remember all the information on the license to deceive the traffic police. “The men kept telling me not to say too much in front of the traffic police but just sign my name,” he said.

    Deng was later taken to the Xiping Traffic Management Center in Dongguan where the traffic police deal with the violations. His driver’s license was taken away by an officer at Xiping and had nine points added for two speeding tickets meant for a Dongguan driver.

    To Deng’s surprise the traffic police kept his driver’s license after the points were added.

    The men facilitating the sale told Deng that there was something wrong with the traffic violation system and they would return the license to him later.

    Deng received 1,200 yuan and returned to Shenzhen.

    Ten days later Deng found that 18 points were added to his license and he had to retake an exam on basic traffic rules to get his license back. Deng was unable to find the men who helped him sell the points.

    To regain his license, Deng had to give up his new job and go back to his hometown in Hunan Province to take the driving exam again.

    Deng reported what he did to the police and the media in the hopes of bringing down the people that arranged the sale of his points.

    The Daily later found that people were working in teams, with each member playing different roles. For instance, there are people who go to the agencies to collect driver’s licenses and personal information and others are responsible for posting advertisements, finding people who are willing to have points added to their licenses online.

    According to the people trading license points, the groups with brick-and-motar stores earn the most by selling each point for 200 yuan. Others sell each point for 140 yuan. The buying price for each point is around 120 to 130 yuan, which means 10 yuan can be earned for each point. Many of them deal with about 30 points each day.

    The traffic police from the Dongguan Public Security Bureau have been cracking down on the illegal sale of license points since 2015. The police have detained 27 people. (Zhang Qian)