Driving licences to flash emergency contact number

LUCKNOW: Your driving licence from now on will have an emergency number which will help bystanders get in touch with your family in case of any emergency on road. The number will be printed on the back and will have to be filled in the online application form by the applicant. “It would help people contact the family member or a friend in case a DL holder lands in an emergency on road and is not in a position to make a make a call,” said RTO, headquarters, IT services, Sanjay Jha.

Also, applicants will soon be able to know the status of their DLs like they track a product on an e-commerce portal. A web application is being developed by the state transport department.

In 2018, the ministry of road transport and highway had sent a notification to state transport departments for uniform format, colour, design and security features of DLs across the country. UP has already implemented a few changes. The fee of the smart DL would remain unchanged, which is Rs 1,000. In another move, DLs all over the state are being printed and dispatched centrally at the transport commissioner’s office in Lucknow instead of RTO and ARTO offices. This would ensure that a DL will be delivered within 10 days.