How to soon get a driving licence without giving test at RTO

Forget about standing in a queue and appearing for a driving test at an RTO. India is about to witness a drastic change in the issuance of a driving licence from July 1. As per the new rules announced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), an applicant will now be able to get a driving licence without taking a physical test a the RTO. However, he or she has to undergo training at any of the accredited driving training centres.

Instead of a physical test at an RTO, the applicant has to appear for an online test and pass too. The online test will be recorded electronically for audit.

MoRTH took to Twitter and said that the shortage of skilled drivers is one of the major issues in the Indian roadways sector and a large number of road accidents occur due to a lack of knowledge of road regulations. The online test of the applicants is expected to reduce the loopholes in the process of issuing driving licences.

The driving training centres need to be well equipped with simulators and a dedicated driving test track for providing training to the candidates. The online test is claimed to be more efficient than physical driving tests. Also, the digitalisation of the process is expected to make it more transparent and efficient as well.

The entire process will be tech-driven and there won't be any human interference. This is to ensure no foul-play in driving test and issuing a driving licence. Once the driving training centres issue a certificate, it will reach the motor vehicle licence officer concerned.

Some of the state governments such as Delhi and Maharashtra have already implemented online or test from home methods for availing learner licences. Under the online method, the Delhi transport department was able to clear 64% of the 77,421 online applications between February 18 and March 30.