Those seeking driving licences are now required to pass a set of stringent skill tests that include reversing a vehicle with reasonable accuracy to qualify for it. The centre informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The passing percentage to be eligible to get a driving licence in all regional transport offices has been fixed at 69 per cent, minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari told the House in a written reply. “In the case of a vehicle having a reverse gear, driving the vehicle backwards, reversing it into a limited opening either to the right or left under control and with reasonable accuracy” is one of the parameters of qualifying in the driving skill test Gadkari said. This is according to the provisions of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
A demonstration is shown on the LED screen installed in all automated driving test tracks, apart from a physical demonstration at the test track itself, before the commencement of the actual test, he said. Besides, a video link for the driving skill test demo is provided to applicants when booking an appointment.
In another written reply, Gadkari said the government has notified that certain services related to driving licences and registration certificate have been made completely online with Aadhaar authentication voluntarily.
This has been done to help citizens avail these services in a hassle-free manner and reduce the footfall in regional transport offices, which will increase RTO officials’ efficiency, the minister said.
He said the road transport and highways ministry has also written to all the states and Union Territories to sensitise them in this regard to roll out these services at the earliest.
He said the ministry has already undertaken steps to facilitate citizens, including that all forms, fees and documents under the Motor Vehicles Act can be submitted online to avoid human intervention.
The steps include dealer point registration, he said, adding that “for registration of new motor vehicles, the onus to apply for registration stands shifted to dealers and the requirement to produce vehicles before the authority stands removed, vide the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019”.
The minister said the driving licence could be renewed anytime between one year before its expiry till one year after its expiry to facilitate citizens away from hometown, visiting abroad, etc.
