For motorists, a digital driving license copy either stored in digilocker or otherwise is adequate enough during an inspection by law enforcement agencies in the State.
A government order issued by the Transport department on Thursday stated that no enforcement officer shall insist on a physical copy of the same during the time of inspection within the State.
The State government has also fixed the fee structure for issuing the digital driving license. As much as ₹150 will be charged for the issue of a new learning license, ₹200 for diving license, ₹300 as the driving test fee, and ₹50 as the learners test fee. The printed driving license will be issued on demand, collecting an adequate fee for the purpose, said the order.
The amended Rule 139 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rule (CMVR) enabled the production of documents such as a certificate of registration, insurance, fitness and permit, driving license, certificate of pollution, and any other relevant documents in electronic form. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has also prescribed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for validating the transport-related documents in electronic form through IT or mobile app platforms. Section 4 of the IT Act legally recognises electronic documents at par with the original documents.
In Kerala, at present the driving license and certificate of registration are issued in PVC pet G card form. The Transport Commissioner has recently proposed a shift to electronic form, citing the amendment in Rule 139 of the CMVR and pointing out the cases of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam, which have already adopted the issuance of digital driving licenses by default. The National Informatics Centre, Sarathy site will facilitate the downloading and printing of digital driving licenses.
Published - November 07, 2024 09:24 pm IST
