A.P. Transport Dept. does away with cards, now licence, RC being issued in digital format
The Hindu
--Shift to paperless governance: Andhra Pradesh Transport Dept. has started issuing DLs & RCs in digital format. People can access documents on cell phones via DigiLocker or m-Parivahan. Printouts of digital versions accepted by enforcement authorities. Govt. has released ₹33 crore for printing pending DLs & RCs & asked Dept. to stop printing cards. Smart Card Driving Licence (SCDL) used in past, but shortage of semiconductors prompted Dept. to explore QR code-based DLs. Digitisation of DL & RC good news for motorists who have endured long wait.
In a shift towards paperless governance, the State government has asked the Transport Department to do away with the printing of driving licences (DLs) and registration certificates (RCs) and instead embrace digitisation.
The department has started issuing DLs and RCs in digital format across the State from August 1. Under the new system, people can access their driving licence and RC documents on their cell phones through the mobile apps like DigiLocker, which is a secure cloud-based platform for storage, sharing and verification of documents and certificates, or m-Parivahan. “’The enforcement authorities like the traffic police can examine the documents in online mode. The government has also written to the neighbouring States about the development requesting them to honour the digitised format of the documents of motorists from Andhra Pradesh visiting their place,” said an official of the department.
For people who do not use mobile phones, printouts of these digital versions would be accepted by the enforcing authorities.
The department used to collect ₹200 towards application fees and an additional ₹35 towards postal charges for physical documents. It closed the old system on July 28 and decided to issue the digital versions free of cost.
People who have already paid for their documents in the past, however, will be given physical copies.
“The government has released ₹33 crore for printing of the pending driving licences and registration certificates and asked the department to stop printing of the cards henceforth,” said M. Purendra, Deputy Transport Commissioner, Krishna district.
The department officials say that the digital licences and RC cards will greatly benefit motorists, as they do not need to carry their physical documents any more.
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