No record, paper-based licence-holders in a fix

Hundreds of vehicle owners across the state are in a fix as they are unable to get their driving licences renewed due to non-availability of old record with the Transport Department.

Most affected are persons whose paper-based licences were issued 15 to 20 years ago. When they approached the district-level transport offices, they were told that in absence of paper-based record, the licences could not be renewed and upgraded to chip-based smart cards.

Jalandhar’s Divyanshu, who has been regularly going to the local transport office, said the data pertaining to his licence was not available on the department’s portal.

Officials said those who had obtained their licence before the digitisation of records were most affected.

Initially, the department had announced that the renewal of such licences would not be undertaken and those affected would have to apply for a learner’s licence, which could then be converted to a permanent licence as per the procedure.

They said renewal of the paper-based licences had been stopped in the absence of verification of the record and following complaints of misuse by unscrupulous elements.

Sources said the department had now initiated the process to frame a standard operating procedure, wherein the Regional Transport Officer concerned would verify the paper record, before allowing the conversion to a chip-based licence. For this, presence of the record with the respective RTOs was mandatory, said a senior government functionary.

After the verification of the old paper record, their data has to be added to the portal.

It has also been tough for those who migrated to other states and sought the renewal of their documents. The department had also written to the transport authorities of other states not to renew their licence without verifying the record on the inter-state portal.

The sources said the issue regarding paper-based registration documents was another area that needed to be addressed. Transport Minister Laljit Bhullar said he was getting the issue resolved at the earliest. A top govt functionary confirmed that the file to allow a single window for such licence-holders to upgrade to chip-based smart cards was in the final stages of discussion and was expected to be approved soon.