BackNo need to carry physical copies of driving licence, other vehicle documents: Madras HC
You can keep scanned copies of your driving licence and other vehicle related documents on apps like DigiLocker or mParivahan and access it wherever you want.
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Chennai: Drivers do not need to carry physical copies of driving licence or any other vehicle document as electronic copies are valid, the Madras High Court has ruled. A division bench of Justice Dr Vineet Kothari and Justice Dr Anitha Sumanth Wednesday disposed of various petitions against a memorandum which said vehicle drivers should carry original documents including licence, after recording the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways last month.
The State Traffic Planning Cell in Tamil Nadu had issued a memorandum in 2017 stating that drivers will be prosecuted under Sections 130 and 171 of Motor Vehicle Act if they don’t carry original documents. The rule was challenged by various transport bodies. Disposing all such petitions, the court said in view of the amendment brought by government on November 2, the petitions have become “infructuous", PTI reported.
5 things to know about new rules on driving licence:
1. After bringing out a notification amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, the ministry had last month written to all state governments saying that people can produce transport related documents like driving licence, vehicle registration certificate, insurance, permit, etc either in physical or electronic form when demanded by police or any other official.
2. The government says this would enable the use of digital platforms for carrying and verification of the documents and is a step towards citizen facilitation. It has also requested state transport departments to ensure compliance and make enforcement officers aware of the new provisions so that citizens are not harassed.
3. To keep e-copies of driving licence and other documents safe, the government is also promoting the use of DigiLocker or mParivahan app. Linked to both Aadhaar card and cellphone numbers, DigiLocker eliminates the use of physical documents as part of the government’s Digital India drive, since all data is stored in the cloud.
4. You can upload scanned copies of your documents (PDF, JPEG or PNG format) on the app and access it wherever you want.
5. As per the new rules, even in case of a traffic rule violation there is no need to impound physical copies of the documents by the traffic department as physical seizure can be done using the VAHAN/SARATHI database electronically through the e-challan system.
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