Only heavy vehicles require commercial licence

The Union Ministry of Transport has asked the states to allow drivers to use private licence for driving taxis and light vehicles for commercial purposes.

However, commercial driving licences are required for trucks, buses and other medium and heavy commercial vehicles. This was done to comply with a Supreme Court order.

The advisory also said the exemption from obtaining the endorsement for commercial vehicles would apply to motorcycles and light motor vehicles like taxis, e-rickshaw/e-cart.

This means people with a regular driving licence for a light motor vehicle can drive commercial vehicles like taxis. Until now, cab drivers had to get an endorsement every three years to drive commercial vehicles.

The Supreme Court in July 2017 had ruled that a person having a licence to drive a certain class of "light motor vehicle" is competent to drive a transport vehicle or omnibus, provided the gross vehicle weight does not exceed 7,500 kg. It would also be applicable for a motor car or tractor or road-roller, where the "unladen weight" of the vehicle concerned is not more than 7,500 kg, as per the order.