Now you will not need to go to RTO to give the driving test to get a driving license. The Ministry of Road and Transport has changed the rules of driving license, due to which crores of people who are trying to get a driving license, but due to the long waiting time, they will not have to wait for much, nor will they have to wait. Will have to make frequent rounds of RTO.
The government, through a draft notification issued last week, has sought to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, to enable the existence of these training centers in a new avatar as well as introduce “techniques of fuel-efficient driving” in the training module for all aspiring drivers.
There will soon be no need to navigate through the maze of bureaucracy and agents at the local road transport authority office, perform a driving test before an official, and also, maybe, grease a few palms, in order to obtain a driver’s license in India.
According to the new rules issued by the Ministry of Roads and Transport, any person who has passed the test from any government recognized driving training center will be exempted from the driving test to be held at the RTO while applying for the license, that is, he will be Driving test will not be required at RTO. His driving license will be made on the certificate of Private Driving Training Center only.
The new rules of driving license will come into effect from July 1, which will allow only those private driving training centers, which are recognized by the state transport authority or by the central government. The recognition of these training centers will be for 5 years, after which they will have to be renewed by the government. With this move of the government, a separate industry of private training schools can be created.
There is a catch, of course. Licenses won’t be doled out indiscriminately and learners will have to undergo training at an accredited driver training center and pass the test there.
This entire process will be tech-driven and without any human interference. The accreditation will be given to centers that meet the criteria of space, driving track, IT, and biometric system and carry out the training as per the prescribed syllabus. Once the center issues a certificate, it will reach the motor vehicle license officer concerned,” an officer was quoted in The Times of India.
On their official Twitter handle, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) posted the salient features of accredited driver training centers. Those are:
1) The center shall be equipped with simulators and a dedicated driving test track to provide high-quality training to candidates.
2) Remedial and refresher courses, as per the requirement of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, can be availed at these centres.
3) The candidates, who successfully pass the test at these centers, will be exempted from the driving test requirement at the time of applying for a driving license, which is currently being taken at the Regional Transport Office (RTO). This will help the drivers in getting their driving license after completing training from such accredited driving training centers.
4) These centers are allowed to provide industry-specific specialized training as well.
This step is taken to tackle the high number of road accident-related deaths that take place every year. Through this new rule, the ministry aims to increase skills and trained drivers. “We need only skilled and trained people driving on roads, who are aware of rules and are cautious,” an official said.
According to reports by the road ministry, India recorded the highest number of deaths in the world due to road accidents in 2019. Further, road accidents in the county account for 11 percent of accident-related deaths in the world.
The ministry has also prescribed a teaching curriculum and the duration of the course will be of weeks spread across 29 hours. The course will be divided into 2 segments – practical and theory. Under the practical segment learners will be required to spend 21 hours learning to drive on basic roads, highways, rural roads, city roads, driving uphill and downhill, reversing and parking, etc. The theory segment will constitute 8 hours of the entire course.
