Aadhaar card to be made compulsory for driving licence

In a bid to prevent the issuance of multiple driving licenses under one name, the Centre has asked States to make Aadhaar identification mandatory for a new license as well as for those seeking renewal. This move is expected to come into action later this year in October.

The Aadhaar number’s biometrics details will help prevent many malpractices, criminal offences and fake identity proofs. Aadhaar card will be a single document which will be enough to establish the identity of the applicant.

According to the official sources, “India’s Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) are making necessary changes in the system. Every RTO across India will have access to the central database of driving licences to check whether the applicant has multiple



driving licence issued or not.

The National Informatics Centre, which is responsible for managing the database of vehicles and licensed drivers, has uploaded most of the data available in RTO records.

According to official estimates, India has a total of approx. 18 crore driving licences.

According to the reports, “so far the RTOs have followed a manual system to update the records which leads to errors and duplication of licences.

Earlier, Aaadhaar number were made mandatory for filing tax returns, with a requirement to link existing PAN (Permanent Account Number) cards to Aadhaar. The government has also passed rules making it mandatory to link mobile number to their Aadhar numbers.