Uniform ‘Smart’ Driving Licences And Registration Certificates Across India; New Features Include QR Code, NFC

From July 2019, all driving licences (DL) and registration certificates (RC) will bear uniformity in their look, design, colour and also exercise similar security features. This applies to all the states and union territories of India.

Termed as ‘smart DL and RC’, they come with embedded microchips and QR codes. The near-field communication (NFC) feature will be enabled, similar to that in a metro card so that details can be easily accessed by the law enforcement agencies, Times of India reported.

A declaration to donate organs will be included in the new cards. Emission norms will also be specified. The old cards will be replaced with new ones for those who apply for renewal. The process has begun and cards are being rolled out gradually.

Times of India quoted an official from the Ministry of Transport as saying, “It will directly give access to the URL having details of the particular vehicle or driver including past records as stored in the central data base of Vahan (for vehicles) and Sarthi (for drivers).”

The new features will only add a burden of Rs 15 or Rs 20 per card, hence it shouldn’t be a very big problem for the states.