Stung by delays in printing and disbursal of driving licence, the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) has decided to replace the printed driving licences with digital version, which can be downloaded from the day a candidate clears the driving test.
According to Transport Commissioner C.H. Nagaraju, the department is planning to switch to the new mode from the second week of October.
In the first phase, the MVD will stop issuing the printed driving licence. In the second phase, Registration Certificate (RC) printing will be stopped.
Though people are used to carrying the printed cards along, it is not required as per law.
Once the printing was stopped, the digital version, which was already available and could be downloaded, would become the default mode of driving licence and RC, said Mr. Nagaraju. It would be equal to downloading one’s Aadhaar card. Unless the MVD formally stopped issuing printed cards, people would not get used to the digital version, which had a lot of advantages, he said.
During inspections, people could show the digital card in Digilocker. The QR code on the card could be scanned to verify the status — whether licence is active, suspended or cancelled — of the card.
The copy of the digital licence card can be shared with the officer for reference without the fear losing the card. People can also keep a printed copy with QR code handy.
A formal discussion was on with Akshaya to check if they could print the cards when a citizen applied, said a statement from the MVD.
Though the digital copy of driving licence and RC has been provided by the Central Motor Vehicle Rule 139, only three other States have stopped the practice of issuing printed cards.
Published - October 01, 2024 09:04 pm IST
