DigiLocker aims to phase out physical driving licences in India

Motorists in India no longer need to carry around physical copies of their RC books and driving licences thanks to the introduction of a new digital integration platform – DigiLocker.

The Union minister of Transport & Highways & Shipping, Nitin Gadkari and the minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad jointly launched the integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses (DL) & Vehicle Registration Certificates (RC) in New Delhi yesterday.

The new service allows people to access digital copies of their documents on their mobile phones via the DigiLocker mobile app. Driving licenses and vehicle registration documents can now be issued directly to the DigiLockers of individuals in digital formats. These digital copies can be shared with other departments as identity and address proof. They will also be used for on-the-spot verification through the mobile, by various law enforcement authorities like the traffic police. Besides being convenient for people, this will also result in assured authenticity of such documents and reduction of administrative overhead.

DigiLocker was first launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July last year as a part of his focus on ‘Digital India’. When a person signs up for a DigiLocker, he/she gets access to a dedicated cloud storage space for important documents. The app currently has 2,151,527 registered users with 2,491,159 uploaded documents and has issued over 34,56,77,055 documents as on September 8, 2016. 

How DigiLocker works?

In order to access the digital RC and DL, a person needs to first sign up for a DigiLocker. He/she then needs to download the DigiLocker Android app from Google PlayStore. In the mobile app, he/she will have to select the Issued Documents section and then the DL/RC. Field staff like the traffic police can conduct offline verification of the RC/DL using QR Code. Apart from the mobile view version, digitally signed documents can also be accessed electronically, and these will be at par with the physical issued documents as per IT Act 2000. 

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says it is actively digitising driving licences and registration certificates and maintaining a National Register System. With the launch of the cloud service, this National Register System has got integrated with DigiLocker, making over 19 crore vehicle registration certificates and over 9 crore driving licenses available in the citizens’ lockers. Once the data from the remaining RTOs is updated in the National Register Systems, the digital copies of those driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates will also be available via DigiLocker. 

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