India / No further extension to expired transport documents after Oct 31: Centre

New Delhi: After extending the validity of expired transport documents such as driving licenses (DLs) and vehicle registration certificates (RCs) at least seven times in view of the Covid-19 pandemic since March last year, the Centre has said there will be no further relaxation on this account after October 31. The Centre has directed states and union territories to clear the pending applications for renewal and reissue of such documents within a month.

“It is clarified that this is the last such extension and no further extension in this regard will be given by the central government,” said a letter by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to transporters.

On September 30, the ministry, for the seventh time, extended the validity of documents including DLs, RCs, fitness certificates, and all kinds of permits that expired after February 2020 and could not be renewed because of the restrictions imposed to check the pandemic. Officials clarified that no extension has been granted for expired Pollution Under Control certificates, which have to be renewed.

Driving without a valid license attracts a penalty of ₹5,000, while the penalties for other invalid documents are ₹5,000 (registration certificate), ₹10,000 (permit for commercial vehicles), ₹2,000-5,000 (fitness certificate for goods vehicles).

Due to the pandemic, the ministry extended the validity of all transport-related documents for the first time until June 2020. The validity was subsequently extended to August 2020, December 2020, March 2021, June 2021, September 2021, and October 31, 2021.

The ministry said due to the continuous extensions, there is a long backlog of applications awaiting clearance for renewal of such documents. “States and union territories (UTs) have also been advised to complete all the pending services in mission mode and a time-bound manner to achieve this. It has been advised: A) to put extra resources to complete the processes related to pending cases of renewal and reissue of documents such as fitness permits, DLs, RCs, etc. within one month,” said the letter.

“B) to implement facilitative regulations notified by this ministry, like online processing of documents, dealer point registration, online national permit for goods/passenger vehicles, contactless/faceless services through Aadhaar authentication, etc. in this period of one month to facilitate citizens by minimising their visits/physical interactions with RTOs/transport offices. C) To set up facilitation centres to resolve issues pertaining to citizens through toll-free numbers and online citizen support.”

Officials said state governments can offer further extensions at their level if they deem it fit. Subsequently, the Delhi government announced it has extended the validity of all expired DLs, RCs, and other transport documents registered in the national Capital till November 30.