DLs to go smart... and chic too

DLs to go smart... and chic too
DH News Service, New Delhi:
Your driving licence will soon don the garb of a modern smart card. Your "RC book" (vehicle registration certificate) too will go smart...


The process of issuing these new smart cards will start in about three months.

The Karnataka government is all set to roll out two modern computer-embedded cards instead of driving licences and RC books: the driving licence will contain your personal details like age, sex, blood group etc, while the latter will carry the vehicle details. Not only this. The DL smart card will also catalogue the details of traffic offences, if any, committed by you. Each DL smart card will cost Rs 65.

This was disclosed to mediapersons by Karnataka Transport Minister R Ashok here on Wednesday.

Each smart card will have a 4KB memory. During inspection, the RTO inspector or police can read the driving licence through a card reader provided to them.

The RC card will be tamper proof. As part of the move introduce smart card DLs all over the country, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has already asked all states to introduce the new cards and replace the existing ones at the earliest.

In Karnataka, the government has already set the ball in motion by inviting tenders in 13 RTOs to issue new DL and RC smart cards and in the rest of the 44 RTOs of the State, the process would be completed in stages.
Currently, the State has 65 lakh driving licence holders and 75 lakh registered vehicles.

Ashok, who attended the state transport ministers meeting convened by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister T R Baalu, to discuss the issue of driving licences and speed governors, said the DL smart card issuing process would be completed within one year.

The State has urged the Centre to instal speed governors in transport vehicles and favoured that it should be an all-India feature.