Delhiites will soon get QR-based driving license, RC
Taking a step towards digitization of the system, Delhi Transport Department will soon issue QR based smart cards for Driving License (DL) and Certificate of Registration (RC). According to a statement, the new driving license will have an advanced microchip with features like Quick Response (QR) code and Near Field Communication (NFC). The new RC will have the owner’s name printed on the front while the microchip and QR code will be embedded on the back of the card.
The cards earlier had embedded chips, but both the Delhi Traffic Police and the enforcement wing of the Transport Department did not have the required quantity of chip reader machines. In addition, the chips were designed and implemented by the respective states, resulting in difficulties in reading the chip and obtaining information especially in case of defaulters.
Now with QR based smart cards, this problem is solved. It will be able to link and validate one’s information from Sarathi and the smart card with the vehicle, two web-based databases of all driving licenses and vehicle registrations.
QR is also being implemented across the country, the QR code reader is easily accessible and will completely do away with the need for any manual intervention. The new cards will also allow for two specific materials for their card manufacturing—polyvinyl chloride or PVC, or polycarbonate which is slightly more expensive but more durable. (Size of Card – 85.6mm X 54.02mm; Thickness will be minimum 0.7mm)
The October 2018 notification of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had made changes in driving license and registration certificate. The new smart card based DL and RC will have a chip based / QR code based identification system. Also, documents like driving license or registration certificate in electronic formats on DigiLockers and mParivahan were also legalized in place of physical documents and treated at par with original documents.
The QR code also has an added benefit of acting as a security feature on the smart card. As soon as the smart card of the driver / owner is seized, the department will be able to keep the records of the DL holder up to 10 years and the penalty on the vehicle database. The new DLs will also help the government in maintaining records of disabled drivers, any modifications made to vehicles, emission norms and declaration of person for organ donation.
