Now, you can use Aadhaar to get a driving licence: Maharashtra state department

However, as the issue of making Aadhaar cards is still pending with the Supreme Court, the linkage of Aadhaar and driving licences has not been made mandatory.

Application for driver’s licence, change of printed address, transfer of vehicles, and other processes related to the Regional Transport Offices (RTO) will soon become easier if the applicant has an Aadhaar card.

RTO officials also said that the linking of Aadhar card will help eradicate the role of agents and touts. (Representational photo)

Maharashtra’s transport department, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in December, said that the move will reduce hassle faced by the citizens.

In addition, it will weed out illegal duplication of licences and help determine the ownership of multiple vehicles by one owner. Currently, Maharasthra has over 3 crore vehicles, of which only 32 have been registered.

However, as the issue of making Aadhaar cards is still pending with the Supreme Court, the linkage of Aadhaar and driving licences has not been made mandatory.

While applying for the work, the applicants will not be required to fill out any forms but would merely have to provide their Aadhaar details. The implementation of the plan will take about three to four months, said an official.

Additional transport commissioner of state, Satish Sahastrabuddhe, could not be reached for his comments on the issue.

The transport department official said they are considering two ways of authenticating an Aadhaar number: either through a One Time Password (OTP) sent on the registered phone number or through a biometric device.

“Currently, we are considering adopting either OTP or biometric method for Aadhar authentication,” said the official. He added that due to certain issues, the process of linking Aadhaar to vehicles may take some time.

Every year about 40 lakh people apply for driving licences, apart from the applicants for public service vehicle badges. Of these, half of the applicants revisit the RTO offices for permanent licences. According to officials, once the driving licence is linked with Aadhar, people will not be required to take printouts of their application or submit documents at RTOs. Ultimately it will save time and money, reducing pressure on short staffed RTO offices.

RTO officials also said that the linking of Aadhar card will help eradicate the role of agents and touts.

The department had already introduced online appointments and e-payment options, following the introduction of the upgraded version of SARATHI and VAHAN systems, developed by National Informatics Center and used for maintaining database of driving licence and vehicles respectively.

Earlier last year, union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadakari had announced about linking driving licence and vehicle records with Aadhar card.