By Dipak K Dash
The road transport and highways ministry on Sunday extended the validity of driving licence (DL) and other vehicle-related documents such as RC, permits, and fitness certificate till March 31. This will be applicable for documents whose validity has expired since February 2020 or would expire by March 31, 2021.
In an advisory to states, the ministry said such “documents may be treated to be valid till 31st March 2021”. This will help citizens in availing of transport-related services while maintaining social distancing, the ministry said.
The advisory came barely hours after TOI reported that the commercial vehicle owners have suggested to the government to extend the relaxations considering the practical problems that they are facing when still a sizeable number of their vehicles are standing idle. “For example, our buses, which are attached to schools, are not running and we can’t operate them till schools are open. So, the government should look at all issues before taking any decision,” said the school bus operator. He added even a large number of other buses operated by private players are standing idle for no work as people are travelling less by buses.
Sources in the state transport departments also said a large number of persons who had obtained learner’s licence since August-September 2019 could not take the practical driving test to get a permanent licence because of the lockdown. “Now there is a high demand from such applicants for practical tests. But we are unable to allot them the time slot for the test. These are some practical issues, which the government must take into consideration,” said one of them. ( TOI )
