The newest state of Telangana might be attracting global corporate honchos and foreign political dignitaries to its soil, but a simple transport document issued in the State is failing to be recognised overseas.
The International Driving Permit (IDP) issued by the State Transport department has almost become an invalid document as some countries, including the United States, are yet to include Telangana in the list of Indian states in their official database. As a result, an increasing number of people with IDPs from the State are facing inconvenience while travelling abroad. On an average, 900 IDPs are issued every month in the State.
“I went to the office of the Department of Motor Vehicle recently to obtain a driving licence,” said D. Shreya, a student from New Jersey pursuing her Master’s course. “I showed them my international driving permit that was issued in Hyderabad so that I could get my local licence almost immediately. But I was told by the officer that only AP is a recognised state as per their records and not Telangana. When I tried explaining the bifurcation, the officer said that some Indians have already faced such a situation and she knew about the issue but cannot do anything about it. Since the permit was of no use I had to follow a lengthy process to get a licence which is also time-taking.”
In the past, those who faced the issue had also dashed off letters to the State and Central governments but not much has changed even after that. In December 2015, a person who received the IDP from Hyderabad and was residing in the United States had complained of facing similar problem through an e-mail.
