Dispelling doubts among public, the city traffic police made it clear that the ‘DigiLocker’ cannot be used by motorists in lieu of carrying original driving licence as per the Motor Vehicles Act.
Even as the Madras High Court on Monday declined to pass an interim order restraining the State police from insisting on original driving licences from motorists, the hearing on the main case is likely to be taken up on Friday. Under such circumstances, the Additional Director of Police, State Traffic Planning Cell, in a release said, “Carrying original licence while driving shall not be insisted upon till September 8.”
Meanwhile, a senior traffic police officer said that carrying the licence on DigiLocker will not be valid. “The idea of using the digiLocker is only to keep documents safe. But there is no application tool either with the police personnel or transport authorities. Moreover, there is no provision in the Motor Vehicles Act to allow digiLocker instead of carrying original licence. In the absence of a necessary application tool with law enforcing authorities, there is no question of the usage of digilocker.”
The DigiLocker (digilocker.gov.in), a platform launched two years ago by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the Digital India drive, was to facilitate access to documents any time and anywhere, eliminating the need to carry them in person. Traffic police officers clarified further that insisting on motorists carrying original driving licence was nothing new.
Mandatory as per law
As per section 3 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it is mandatory that no person shall drive the motor vehicle in any public place unless he holds an effective driving licence issued to him authorising him to drive the vehicle.
Adding that the law allows imposing a fine of ₹500 on the violator, another police officer said, “We are conducting awareness campaigns on the same.”
