New Delhi, July 15: Individuals who have applied for a driving licence will no longer have to furnish their Aadhaar cards during the verification process. The  government has stopped the process of verification using Aadhaar for driving license, Parliament was informed Monday. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Rajya Sabha in a written reply that the government has stopped the process of verification using Aadhaar for driving licence. Aadhaar May Get Deactivated for These Reasons: Here’s How to Check UIDAI Status and Reactivate It.

Giving details about the latest move, Gadkari said Aadhaar number obtained for vehicle registrations are 1.65 crore and the process of collection of biometric at the RTOs has been discontinued now.  “The Ministry in compliance to the order of the Supreme Court dated September 26, 2018 … stopped the process of verification using Aadhaar for the Driving Licences,” Gadkari said. The Minister added saying that as per the information provided by National Informatics Centre, the “Aadhaar number obtained for Driving Licences are 1,57,93,259”. Aadhaar Card Holders Can Opt Out, Get Their Data Deleted As Government Looks to Amend Act.

Documents Required For Driving Licence (DL):

  1. Address Proof (Passport, ration card, Voter ID, or utility bills in the applicant's name)

  2. Identity Proof (Passport, PAN card, voter ID, birth certificate or 10th grade mark sheet)

  3. Passport size photographs

The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 states that no individual will be allowed to drive a motor vehicle in a public place without a valid driving licence. Driving without a license is a punishable offence. On Monday, the government again introduced in the LS a legislation seeking higher penalties for traffic rule violations among other provisions. Gadkari said around 30 per cent of driving licences in the country are bogus and about 1.5 lakh people die and 5 lakh get injured in road accidents every year.

In June, there were reports that the government has decided to do away with the requirement of minimum educational qualification for obtaining driving licence. This move is aimed  to boost employment opportunities across the nation and benefit skilled persons from economically underprivileged sections of the society. At present, under Rule 8 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, a transport vehicle driver needs to have passed class 8.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2019 10:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).