No need to carry Driving License and RC: New Motor Vehicle Rules from October 1

A number of new motor vehicle rules are set to come into force from October 1. These new rules which have been put into force with the aim of ensuring convenience of commuters, have been notified by the Union ministry of road transport and highways. MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) has issued notifications regarding the amendments in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, requiring implementation of the enforcement, maintenance of Vehicular Documents and E-Challans through the portal with effect from 1st October 2020, in order to monitor and enforce the MV Rules in better ways. MoRTH, in a statement said that the use of IT services and electronic monitoring will result in the better enforcement of (traffic) rules in India, and will also lead to reduction/removal of harassment of drivers (while also facilitating the citizens). The new rules brought in by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, coming in effect from October 1, have been stated below:

1. No requirement of physical license/RC: If vehicular licences, registration certificates and insurance documents have been validated through the government portal, they would not be required to be carried in physical/hard copy form from October 1.

2. Digi-locker/M-Parivahan: These documents may be uploaded on M-Parivahan or Digi-locker apps, available in any playstore. An individual can register on these via their mobile number.

3. Revoked/Disqualified DLs: Even the revoking of driving license will happen digitally. Details of disqualified or revoked driving licenses (by the licensing authority) will also be recorded on the e-portal and updated periodically.

4. E-challans: Electronic Challans will be issued on the official online portal for the same.

5. Use of mobile phones while driving: The use of handheld communication devices/ mobile phone while driving will now be allowed only for navigation of routes and directions and only in such a manner that it shall not disturb the concentration of the driver while he/she is driving.