Linking Aadhaar card-driving licence will reduce RTO crowds, says official

Many people visit Regional Transport Offices (RTO) offices every day for various works -- documentation, licence, registration, among others. At present 50 RTOs spread across Maharashtra have footfalls of about 1.50 lakh daily.

Keeping COVID-19 crisis in mind, Transport Commissioner Avinash Dhakne is hopeful that the Centre's decision to link Aadhaar card with driving licence and vehicle registration certificate (RC) will help in reduce crowds at RTOs and make them free of agents and touts.

While talking to reporters at his office, Transport Commissioner Avinash Dhakane, on Monday, February 9, said the Union government has issued a draft notification about linking driving licence and RC with Aadhaar, a unique 12-digit identity number assigned to residents of India.

The Government of India has already issued a draft notification for Aadhaar linkage. Once that is implemented, crowds at RTOs will reduce to 20 per cent (from current level), he said.

Post-these changes, only a few people will have to visit RTOs for work related to driving licence and vehicle fitness, among others, the transport commissioner said.

The Aadhaar linkage will eliminate the need for visiting RTOs and submitting documents, he said. Officials said the move will also curb forgery and end the menace of duplicate driving licences.

Many people prefer to get their work done through RTO agents and touts, who charge hefty amounts, leading to corruption and depriving citizens of better services, according to activists.

In 2014-15, the then transport commissioner, Mahesh Zagade, had announced a ban on the entry of agents and touts inside RTO premises, but the change did not materialise on ground due to various reasons.

According to transport department officials, recently they launched a provision of digital signature for obtaining learning licence, which has a validity of six months. People can authenticate their documents by digitally signing them.

A senior official said the department has already received over 700 learning licence forms signed digitally since the start of this month.