17 RTOs to have computerised driving test tracks

Maharashtra transport department to introduce computerised driving test tracks at 17 RTOs, eliminating manual testing for permanent driving licenses. Automated vehicle testing centres also in the pipeline.

The practice of manually testing candidates for permanent driving licences will soon be a thing of the past as the transport department is planning to install computerised driving test tracks at 17 regional transport offices (RTOs), including the ones at Tardeo and Andheri.

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“We will finalise tenders by June or July after which a work order will be issued,” Vivek Bhimanwar, Maharashtra transport commissioner, said on the occasion of Motor Transport Day on Friday.

These computerised test tracks will have softwares that will track the vehicle being driven by the candidate, without manual intervention. “The system will be fed with information necessary to conduct an examination of the candidate. Even the minutest of the mistakes will be noted which naked eyes could miss,” an RTO official said.

These computerised tracks are likely to be in the shape of an ‘eight’ that will analyse the driving around turns, speed and braking and other parameters.

By next week, the department will also call tenders for automated vehicle testing centres. These centres will be set up at 24 RTOs and now they are in the last stage of technical scrutiny. The automated centres will test the physical fitness of a vehicle.

There are 51 RTOs and deputy RTOs in Maharashtra.