Now, access driving licence on your smartphone

One need not worry about carrying driving licences (DLs) and vehicle registration certificates (RCs) as the same can be accessed online or on one’s mobile phone using DigiLocker.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday launched the integration of DigiLocker with the Driving Licence and Vehicle Registration system of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Wednesday.

The digital driving licence and vehicle registration documents will be available on motorists cellphones via the DigiLocker mobile app and this will facilitate authenticated on-the-spot verification by various law enforcement authorities like the traffic police.

The public can access digital copies of the DLs and RCs on their mobile phones via the DigiLocker mobile app. These digital copies can be shared with other departments as identity and address proof.

Besides being convenient, this will also result in assured authenticity of such documents and reduction of administrative overhead. “The system will not only eliminate corruption, but is also a step towards realising prime minister’s digital India drive. The citizens can use this at airports as valid identity document,” Gadkari said.

He said DigiLocker integration with the ministry will make available over 19 crore digital vehicle RCs and about 10 crore driving licences in citizens’ DigiLocker accounts, and the digitally signed accounts will be at par with the physical certificates as per the IT Act, 2000.

IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who launched the system along with Gadkari, said there are 21 lakh registered users of DigiLocker. DigiLocker is a key initiative under digital India launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July last year and it serves as a platform for issuance of documents and certificates digitally, thus eliminating the use of physical documents.

To access the digital RC and DL, a person needs to first sign up for a DigiLocker. He/she then needs to download the DigiLocker Android App from Google PlayStore. In the Mobile App, he/she will have to select the Issued Documents section and then the DL/RC.

Citizens who sign up for the DigiLocker account get dedicated cloud storage space which can be used for storing key documents like voter ID, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates.