Thiruvananthapuram: Though police have issued the dictum legalizing the use of digital versions of vehicle documents through
DigiLocker services during vehicle checking, the Supreme Court verdict on
Aadhaar on Wednesday has put a spoke in the wheel of the process in the state.
According to the motor vehicles department (
MVD), in addition to examining the implications of Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar on digital data as various documents being accessed through DigiLocker are linked through Aadhaar, there are also grey areas while accessing the digital data as some of the vehicles in the state are not recognized by the national vehicle registry.
“We have been informed that the use of DigiLocker services is being ascertained by
UIDAI in the wake of Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar. We also have stated specific issues regarding vehicle classification. For example, the
autorickshaws that form a major chunk of vehicles in the state, do not find a mention in Vahan Sarathi software that forms the basis of the national vehicle registry,” transport commissioner K Padmakumar said.
The state issues a separate licence for autorickshaw drivers, but it is not recognized by the national registry as a separate licence. The national registry shows the licence as light motor vehicle licence, even though an LMV licence is a separate one in the state. So, with the digital licence accessed through the DigiLocker, it would be technically valid for a autorickshaw licence holder to drive a four-wheeler, whereas he is not entitled to in reality.
Under the circumstances, the MVD officials will hold discussions with the Central agencies. “We are in the process of holding talks with the National Informatics Centre and ministry of road transport and highways, expecting to sort out the issues soon so that the DigiLocker services can be used without any room for confusion,” Padmakumar said.
State police chief Loknath Behera had issued a circular last week to all the offices under him, asking the police to treat digital documents saved in DigiLocker as original documents for verification purposes.
As per the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and the central motor vehicles rules 1989, the vehicle owners will have to submit their licence and other vehicle documents before the authorities when asked. From now on, it would be sufficient if they show their digital documents from the DigiLocker, and need not carry the hard copy of those documents with them.
DigiLocker is an application by the Centre, under the Digital India programme, which is a platform for issuance and verification of documents and certificates in a digital format, thereby eliminating the use of physical documents. The government departments registered with DigiLocker can link the electronic copies of documents and certificates issued by them, directly into the citizens’ lockers so that the citizen, registering themselves in the application by entering their Aadhaar number, can access all such documents. At present, driving licence, Aadhaar card, vehicle registration certificate and the LPG connection details are available for download from the application.
