Learner’s licence test at all Delhi govt colleges soon

After over a year of planning, the Delhi government on August 7 issued a notification appointing directors and principals of educational and training institutes as “licensing authorities”.

In a first, students of four Delhi government colleges will be able to take their learner’s driving licence test at the college campus itself from August 18.

Only four institutes — Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Acharya Narendra Dev College, GB Pant Institute of Technology and Industrial Training Institute, Pusa — will initially offer this facility. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT pic for representational purposes only)

After over a year of planning, the Delhi government on August 7 issued a notification appointing directors and principals of educational and training institutes as “licensing authorities”. This means that apart from the usual motor licensing officers of the transport department, commonly known as RTOs, heads of government colleges can also now issue learner’s licence.

From August 18, however, only four institutes will offer this facility. These include Delhi University’s (DU) Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and Acharya Narendra Dev College, and GB Pant Institute of Technology and Industrial Training Institute, Pusa. Once launched in these colleges, the service will gradually be expanded to cover all Delhi government colleges and 10 others from DU.

Also, fee for the test will be accepted only online — ₹500 for single category vehicle i.e. two wheelers or car and ₹950 for both.

According to government data, about 55% of those who took learners’ licence in the past two years were in the age bracket of 18-25 years. Those between 25-35 years constituted 25%, the second highest. Records also indicated that 18 to 25 year olds top in getting permanent driving licences as nearly 55% of the total cards issued went to those falling under this age group.

“The transport department will issue another notification empanelling the four colleges on Monday. Coordination with the institutes for software installation and some basic training to the staff will then follow. After that, the first test will be held in a week’s time,” said transport minister Kailash Gahlot adding that only students of the notified college will be allowed to apply for learner’s licence.

To get a licence, those who are 18 years or above and are studying in a college fully funded by the Delhi government will have to pass an online driving test. The new thing is that instead of going to a motor licensing office to take the driving test, as is the current practice, students will be able to take the online exam in their college itself.

The August 7 notification of the transport department states that the online test would be conducted once a week, preferable Saturday, by the college in its computer lab. “The number of students appearing for the online test at the same time will be the principal’s discretion,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

Students will be able to take the test either in English or Hindi. The test is of 10 minutes duration and will have 10 objective type questions. The minimum marks to obtain the learner’s licence will be six, the proposal stated. But, to get a permanent driving licence, the student will have to visit any of the 13 motor licensing offices across the city as it involves giving a driving test.

The state transport authority receives around five lakh applications for learner’s licence every year out of which around three lakh are approved.