CHENNAI: Clearing the doubt whether motor vehicle riders will be exempted from prosecution if they use the national digital locker system called ‘Digilocker’ instead of carrying their original licence, the Director General of Police issued a statement that this facility was valid.The app was launched in July, 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Centre-certified app can be downloaded onto the mobile phone which would help store documents, including licence, on DigiLocker which, when shown on demand to the department, is considered as the original.
This is mainly aimed at helping one consolidate all important papers at one place and avoid carrying hard copies of the documents.However, previously the state police were confused because under the Motor Vehicle Act, every motorist is to carry original driving licence and according to section 130 of the Act, the driver of the motor vehicle in any public place shall, on demand by any police officer in uniform, produce his/her licence for examination by any police official.
After complaints were filed from across the state seeking clarification on the issues, the statement said the Digilocker app is also valid. Explaining the app, a senior police officer said one has to link his or her Aadhaar car and the cell number, provided the inspecting officer is also registered as a requester on the app to cross-check the documents.
The system provides 1GB of storage space in which users can store identification cards issued by multiple authorities, education certificates, PAN cards, driving licence as well as vehicle ownership documents and is part of the NDA government’s Digital India push to curtail the use of physical documents.
However, in certain cases including impounding, the original licence has to be produced, the statement added.
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