Delhi to reopen 13 district RTOs, revive DL-13 series; DL-14 to be scrapped

Delhi's transport department plans to reopen 13 regional transport offices for in-person services, balancing digital convenience with physical accessibility.

The Delhi transport department is planning to reopen several previously operational regional transport offices (RTOs) as part of a restructuring plan, with 13 offices—one in each district—likely to be made operational, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

13 RTO offices will be revived across Delhi. The current number is 4, including the RTO office at Sarai Kale Khan as shown in the picture. (HT Archive)

At present, four RTOs are operational at Mall Road, Sarai Kale Khan, Mayur Vihar and Dwarka for in-person services, as several offices were shut in a push towards digital servicesin the aftermath the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials said that reopening these offices will improve physical access for residents who require offline assistance, especially for services that cannot be completed digitally.

A senior transport department official, who did not wish to be named, said the restructuring was aimed at balancing digital convenience with on-ground accessibility. “The department had successfully transitioned over 33 services to faceless mode in recent years. However, there remains a need for physical touchpoints. The reorganisation of RTOs in line with revenue districts will ensure that citizens do not have to travel long distances for such services,” the official said.

The department had earlier rolled out faceless services in phases, eventually covering nearly 90% of transport-related work. This included learner licences, driving licence renewals, duplicate licences, vehicle ownership transfers and several permit-related services. The move was intended to reduce footfall at RTOs, curb middlemen and bring transparency to service delivery.

Despite the digital push, officials acknowledged that certain services still require physical verification, inspections or document submission, necessitating in-person RTOs across the city. The reopening of additional centres is expected to ease the burden on the existing four locations.

The RTOs are set to be made operational, district wise, at Mall Road (Old Delhi), Jam Nagar House (New Delhi), Lado Sarai (South), Hari Nagar (West), Loni (North East), Sarai Kale Khan (South East), Mayur Vihar (East), Wazirpur (Central North), Dwarka (South West), Raja Garden (Central), Rohini-1 (Outer North), Burari (North) and Rohini-2 (North West).

DL-13 revival

As part of the administrative restructuring, the department has also decided to revive the DL-13 vehicle registration series, which had not been in use for the past few years. Officials said that the DL-14 series, which was introduced skipping DL-13, will now be discontinued.

“The DL-13 series is being brought back into circulation as part of the reorganisation. The earlier decision to skip this series had no administrative bearing, and its resumption will help streamline registration sequences across districts,” the official said.

The realignment order also specifies jurisdictional changes for RTOs, mapping areas under each office in accordance with the updated district boundaries, to reduce ambiguity for applicants.

The department, in an internal communication, emphasised that the faceless services will continue to remain the primary mode of service delivery and that physical RTOs will function as support centres for cases requiring manual intervention, enforcement-related work and citizen assistance.

Officials said that detailed timelines for the operationalisation of all 13 RTOs will be issued separately. “Necessary arrangements are being made to ensure that infrastructure, staffing and digital integration are in place before services are fully rolled out at each location,” the official said.