THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to curb the rampant use of medical certificates mandatory for taking licence, Motor Vehicles Department has introduced an online facility for doctors to upload the certificates directly. Only doctors registered with ‘Sarathi,’ the portal used by MVD for issuing licences, will be allowed to upload the certificate.
Transport Minister Antony Raju said the initiative was part of converting all services of MVD to online and it would help avoid fake certificates. The new system means applicants have to visit registered doctors to upload medical certificates. It is set to bring in much-needed transparency in the application process and avoid middlemen.
Medical certificate is a prerequisite for taking a new driving licence and renewing it. Though the department has allowed uploading of certificates by the applicants, it was found that most of the certificates were fake.
“There is a big racket offering fake certificates. The applicants give money to agents who often forge the certificates. Over 80 per cent of the eye test certificates in the applications are fake,” said an officer of MVD. The fake certificates are detrimental to road safety, as they allow applicants with poor eyesight to gain a driving licence. It has also been found that some of the eye test centres collude with motor driving schools to generate certificates without even checking the eyesight of applicants.
“Under the new system, we can remove the registration of the medical practitioner from the portal if he or she is found to be unscrupulous. The credentials of the applicant can also be verified. Verification is done through one time password generated in the mobile phone number linked to Aadhaar,” said the officer.