What is a Smart Card Driving License?

What is a Smart Card Driving License?

The smart card driving license is an upgraded version of the earlier book license. It is a plastic card with a 64KB microprocessor. This smart card stores all the essential details about the driver holding it.

What Information Does the Smart Card Driving License Hold?

• Retina scan
• Blood type
• Address
• Fingerprint
• Name

All the details on the smart card can be read through a machine that reads the encrypted microchip.

Usually, the RTO and ARTO authenticate the details in the smart card driving license.

What is the online procedure for Applying for a Smart Card Driving Licence?

• Visit the authorized portal of your State's Transport Department.
• Download the "Smart Card Driving Licence" application form from the portal.
• Fill out the form and visit the nearest RTO. Submit the form along with the necessary documents.
• Pay the charges for the smart card and apply for a driving test.
• The authorities will record your biometric data if you clear the driving test.

Once all the details have been processed and validated, your smart card driving license will be delivered to your registered address.

What is the offline procedure for Applying for a Smart Card Driving Licence?

• Visit the nearest RTO and enquire for a Smart Card Driving Licence form.
• Fill out the form and let the authorities record your biometrics.
• Pay the requisite fees, and you are done.
• You will receive your smart card delivered to your registered address.

How do You Convert an Old Book Driving Licence to a New Smart Card?

Do you have the older version of your driving license? Worry not! You can change the old version of your driving license and get a new smart card! If you obtain a driving license for the first time, you will automatically receive the smart card. However, if you fall under the bracket of people who had their driving license issued before the smart card came into play, you can avail of it quickly. Here is what you need to do.

• Visit the nearest RTO with your old driving license.
• Get an application form to upgrade your license.
• Fill out the form with all the necessary details.
• Pay the fees levied for the same.
• You will receive the license at your registered address via post.

You can only manually change your old book license to the new smart card. There is no procedure for doing this online. You will have to visit the nearest RTO.

What are the Documents Required to Apply for a Smart Card Driving Licence?

You need a few critical documents that you must provide to get a smart card driving license.

• Receipt of application fees
• Address proof (Aadhaar card, passport, Ration card, house agreement, gas, electricity, telephone bills, etc.)
• Age proof (10th class mark sheet, PAN card, birth certificate, passport, transfer certificate from any school with the date of birth printed on it)
• Passport-size photographs
• Medical certificate forms 1A and 1, with a government doctor's validation stamp/signature.
• The application form for the smart card driving license

If you are changing your old driving license to a smart card, here are the documents you will need -

• Age proof (birth certificate, school transfer certificate, passport, etc.)
• Address proof (passport, ration card, voter ID, Aadhaar card, electricity bill, etc.)
• Copy of the original book-style driving license.

What Are the Benefits of a Smart Card Driving Licence?

There are many benefits to availing of a smart card driving license.

• With the biometrics stored in the card, no one will be able to tamper with or fake the details on the license.
• All the information of the cardholder will be stored in the smart card.
• The information on the smart card cannot be altered, creating a permanent audit trail.
• There will be greater efficiency in the maintenance of law enforcement since the driving license cannot be tampered with.

Wrapping Up

The smart card driving license has changed how India works – also to digitalize and encrypt citizens' details and data safely and securely! It's an integral part of a new system of technological advancements, and the government is collectively working towards a more modernized nation.

Get your hands on a smart card driving license today!