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Regular-article-logo Thursday, 08 May 2025

Licence misuse continues

RTO-I, Bhubaneswar, has no access to national database

Sandeep Dwivedy Published 20.09.16, 12:00 AM
The Regional Transport Office I and II in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 19: The city transport authorities have been demanding implementation of a web-based sharing of driving licences at the national level but RTO-I Bhubaneswar still does not have the facility.

The regional transport officer-II, Bhubaneswar, Sanjay Kumar Behera said while RTO-II, which started operating in 2014, is entirely web-based and data on driving licences issued in other states can be tracked here, this cannot be done in RTO-I.

He said sharing of information at the national level was important to check the misuse of driving licences.

At present, a person moving to Bhubaneswar from another city can get a driving license at RTO-I. So, even if the person was involved in an accident or a traffic offence in another city, in absence of a database, he or she could get a driving licence issued in the city from RTO-I.

Behera said if the driving licence data was made entirely web-based, a lot of accidents could be prevented on Bhubaneswar roads.

"We are working on digitising the entire database so that every RTO can have access to driving licences based on a person's name and driving license number," he said.

Behera said the Centre's directive to issue and store vehicle and driving licence data online in a digital locker would soon be implemented in Bhubaneswar. The move is aimed at eliminating the need for physical documents while driving.

"People often forget to carry their driving licence while driving and it lands them in trouble during checks by traffic officials. Digital lockers would enable people to carry their driving licence on their mobile phone," he said, adding that the transport department would soon introduce the DigiLocker mobile app that could can be examined by law enforcement authorities such as the traffic police.

The official said as of now, digital lockers were being used by drivers in Hyderabad. The Union ministry of road transport and highways on September 7 had introduced digitisation of driving licences across the country. The ministry had roped in the Union ministry of electronics and information technology's DigiLocker app for the purpose.

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