Those who have shifted to Visakhapatnam from other States will no longer need to procure No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from their native places for change of address, renewal of driving licence or related issues.
The easing of norms is due to a new rule that comes into effect from February 28, 2019, said Transport Department officials.
Officials said that earlier, if non-locals or people from other States settled in the city approached the RTA office for renewal of driving licence or address change, officials would ask them to furnish a copy of the NOC issued by their local RTA office in their native State. The NOC used to be a mandatory document to verify the authenticity of the DL and also to ensure that there are no traffic violation cases pending against the driver.
Cumbersome process
RTA officials said that the old norm used to be time-consuming process. Due to the regulations, many citizens suffered inconvenience as they had to travel to their native place to procure the NOC. Sometimes, applicants would take the help of middlemen to procure the NOC.
New rule
However the Central government’s new rule under RT 11036 passed on February 28, 2019, does away with the need for NOCs. From now, IT-based aplication is being used to verify the driving licence.
“We have been given access to RTA’s ‘Saradhi’ site, an IT-based application system, in which data of all DL applications in the country has been uploaded. We would check the authenticity of the DL. It would also reveal whether the driver has any pending cases against him/her. There will be no need for NOCs now,” said Deputy Transport Commissioner, Road Transport Authority, Visakhapatnam district S. Venkateswara Rao.
Locals to benefit
Mr. Rao said that compared to other cities, the new rule would benefit a large of citizens in Visakhapatnam as there were a large number of people from other States working in Public Sector Units (PSUs), defence units, banks, and other organisations in the city. On a daily basis, many citizens knock the RTA’s doors for changes to their DL. Now, the new rule would be of immense help to them, he said.