No need of driving licence as centre confirms the use of DigiLocker or mParivahan

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE – The Centre has confirmed that it allows the use of DigiLocker or mParivahan platforms to present the driving license and vehicle registration papers in ‘electronic form’. A notification has been sent to states in this regard, report said. It also said that impounding of documents will be reflected electronically through ‘eChallan’ system.

“The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued an advisory to states to accept Driving Licence, Registration Certificate or other documents in ‘electronic form’ presented through DigiLocker or mParivahan platform as valid under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and treat them at par with the certificates issued by the transport authorities,” according to the ministry’s statement.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the new provision has been amended under Section 139 of Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1989, allowing vehicle owners across the country to use electronic versions of their driving licence and registration certificate on Digilocker, the digital locker application by the central government to store the official application.

Now that the new law is in place, officially, Vehicle owners no longer have to worry about arguing with Police about the validity of E-Documents, citizens can legally provide the digital copy prima facie, although the notification also stipulates that documents such as registration, insurance, fitness and permit, the driving licence, certificate for pollution under check and any other relevant documents can be produced either digitally or physically to any police officer in uniform or any other officer authorized by the state government in this behalf.

In fact, more than the populace this notification is aimed at notifying officers who might ask citizens to produce the documents for verification. To ensure clarity, the notification said, to ensure compliance of the amendments made to rule 139 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 by officers so as to avoid the inconvenience of citizen looking to make this change.

Earlier this year, the government had issued a draft notification that was met with positivity by road users and commuters, who in the past, could have been penalised for not carrying physical copies of the vehicles. To upload the documents, one will need to download the Digilocker app from the app store and then follow the steps to upload your documents. For a detailed How to, check out our story linked above!