Maharashtra RTOs now let applicants take learner's licence test from home
Maharashtra government has issued two directives to the state's 50 RTOs and one of the two will allow the licence applicants to take learner's licence test from home. The other directive mentioned that dealers can now register non-transport vehicles without taking them to the respective RTOs. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is expected to inaugurate the new changes in the next two or three days.
The new changes in the functioning of RTOs are said to decrease the crowd and help maintain the social distancing protocols at the RTOs. The footfall on the RTOs will be lower as the applicants will be able to take the learner's licence test online and it will drastically also decrease the illegal brokerage and corruption. Thanks to the new changes, the burden on the staff will also reduce for better functioning. The online test will be taken with the help of the Aadhar-based authentication system and a similar system will be used in 18 different services like issuing registration certificate for fully-built vehicles, procurement of learner's licence etc.
However, if anyone doesn't want to follow the Aadhar authentication mechanism, the RTOs will continue to follow the existing way of procuring the licences. The applicants will have to provide the Aadhar details before taking the online test and should answer at least 60 per cent of the questions correctly. The applicants can make use of online videos and prepare for the online learner's licence test. Once passing the online test, the applicants can print the learner's licence on their own.
As per the officials, Maharashtra's RTOs issue over 20 lakh learner's licence every year and an equal number of cars and bikes are registered in the state. The new directives will help to decrease the illegal brokerage and corruption which increases upon the physical presence of the users.
Text by Amit Saraswat
