Suspended driving licence recovery to be easy

New Delhi: In a relief to motorists, the Delhi government’s transport department has come up with a centralised facility at its headquarters in Civil Lines area to help the citizens get back their suspended driving licences.

The new computerised facility will help reduce the time in getting back suspended licences by improving the coordination between the traffic police and the transport department, an official of the department said.

“An agency has been hired for manning the facility which will be rolled out soon,” he said.

In the new system of suspension of driving licences for various traffic violations, the transport department will be immediately notified about a particular licence being seized by the traffic police.

A proper record management will be in place at the headquarters, including receipts of driving licences and returning them after the end of the suspension period, the officer said.

“Persons concerned can approach the transport department headquarters instead of going to zonal offices and there will be no chance of licences getting misplaced during the suspension period,” he assured.

A driving licence holder will be informed at every stage, including at the time of challan, sending of licence to transport department and end of the suspension period, through SMSs so that they promptly get the licence back after the suspension period, the officer said.

Under the new system, the suspended licences sent to zonal offices concerned will now be deposited at the centralised facility of the headquarters, he added.

There are 13 zonal transport offices of the Delhi government.

Thousands of licences are seized by the traffic police in the city for violations like drunken driving, using mobile phones while driving and speeding. Last year, over 53,000 driving licences were suspended by the transport department.

Also, in a move that will benefit around two lakh students of colleges and academic centres here, the Delhi government has decided to empower institution heads for issuing learner’s driving licence, officials said.

The Delhi transport department has formulated a policy that will be notified soon to implement the decision, said a government official.