Suryakant Jena

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Getting a driving license will now be tougher as those seeking the licences are required to pass a set of stringent skill tests that include reversing a vehicle with reasonable accuracy to qualify for it, the Centre informed the Parliament.

The passing percentage in order to be eligible to get a driving licence in all regional transport offices has been fixed at 69 percent, minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari told the House in a written reply on Thursday.

“In the case of vehicle having a reverse gear, driving the vehicle backwards, reversing it into a limited opening either to the right or left under control and with reasonable accuracy”, is one of the parameters of qualifying in the driving skill test, the Union Transport Minister said.

I n another written reply, Gadkari said the government has notified that certain services related to driving licences and registration certificate have been made completely online with the help of Aadhaar authentication on a voluntary basis.

This has been done to help citizens to avail these services in a hassle-free manner and to reduce the footfall in regional transport offices, which will increase the efficiency of RTO officials, the minister said.

Besides, the minister said the driving licence could be renewed anytime between one year before its expiry till one year after its expiry to facilitate citizens away from hometown, visiting abroad, etc.

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