DL renewal tougher due to non-availability of data online

CHENNAI: Despite the state transport department allowing online renewal of driving license, many people whose driving license data are not available in the central repository have to visit the RTOs from where they got their license to enter the data for renewal.

Few states like Telangana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh allow the driving license holder whose data is not available online to submit details online and after verification, they could renew the DL online itself. But Tamil Nadu does not allow the public to enter the data through the Driving License Backlog service provided by the union government's Parivahan website. Instead, they have to approach the RTOs from where they got their driving license earlier to enter the data online.

In April this year, the transport department launched a contactless service through which the public can avail of select transport services online without visiting Road Transport Offices (RTO) like learner’s license, renewal of driving license and change of address in driving license through Aadhaar authentication.

A Shanmugham, a native of Salem, who lives at Tambaram said that he tried to renew his driving license which expired last month online. “However, after entering my driving license number and date of birth, it said that details of the DL number were not available in the central repository,” he said, adding that when he visited the RTO at Tambaram, they asked him to get DL data entered at Salem RTO for the renewal process. “When the government launched the online renewal service, it should have entered the details of all the driving license data. Or they should process the data at the RTO in the present place of stay,” he said.

A senior official of the transport department said that the driving license holder has to approach the concerned license issuing authority for entering backlog data as they maintain all the records. “Public has to approach the concerned RTO from where the license was issued earlier, with a letter and the original driving license and all the appropriate identity cards. No fees will be charged for it,” the official added.