HYDERABAD: The Centre may have decided to make Aadhaar identification mandatory for new drivers licence and renewals, but for Telangana Road Transport Authority, the exercise is nothing new.
The RTA had in 2015 tried to make Aadhaar mandatory for all RTA transactions, but the decision was revoked after protest by public. Aadhaar was again made mandatory in 2016 but the decision was again revoked. Presently, Aadhaar is optional for obtaining a driver's licence and for renewal in Telangana. But the ad-hoc decision making it mandatory and later revoking it has left the public confused.
The Centre’s move is aimed to curb the issue of multiple drivers licences under one name. However, the RTA now believes there will not be any hindrances, thanks to digitisation. “We use a software that allows us to tackle the problem of multiple drivers licences. All one needs to do is enter the person’s date of birth, name and fathers name. Some people have similar names and even sometimes their fathers names too could be similar, the date of birth helps prevent confusion,” said T Raghunath, joint transport commissioner (Hyderabad).
“In 2010 we started the process of obtaining date of birth and made it mandatory. This helped weed out multiple drivers licences, after five years when people come for renewal, the extra licence gets cancelled,” he added.
On Monday, Prasad K had come to Khairatabad Road Transport Office to book a learner’s licence slot for his 16-year-old daughter.“The website is down and shows an error, so I came here to book a slot for her,” he said.
When asked if Aadhaar was requested while applying for a licence, the 48-year-old kirana shop owner said, “I am not sure if it is mandatory, I will ask the official at the counter.”
Prasad’s 16-year-old daughter does not have an aadhaar identification. The officials responsible for the maintenance of the website portal was unavailable for comment.“Several people don’t have Aadhaar. This posed difficulties for them which is why we decided to roll back its requirement for proof of identification,” said Raghunath.