Accredited driving schools to be set up in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Following the Union government’s directive, the state government has come out with the guidelines to set up accredited driving schools. Students completing the course from such schools will not be required to appear in driving tests conducted by the RTOs.
According to the guidelines, the accredited driving schools must have their own land and training institute. The institute will issue a certificate only if the trainee has secured 60% or more marks. Based on the certificate, a driving licence will be issued by the authorities to the candidate without any test at the RTO.
The RTO will issue the licence based on the certificate issued by the institute. However, the institute will have to keep a record of the candidate which can be checked by the RTO inspector when required.
However, those trained at the existing driving schools will have to undergo the driving test at the RTOs. An RTO official said that the new rules will not shut down the existing schools. “These accredited driving schools will reduce the burden on the RTOs and the candidates will get the driving licence without appearing in the test at the RTOs where the wait time is around 45 days,” he said.
The success ratio, according to the officials at the RTO, is 30-35% for four-wheelers, while the same for two-wheelers is 70-80%. The officials said that the training institute will have a driving track which will have an S, slopes and parking lots, like the driving test tracks at the RTOs.
According to the new guidelines, which have been implemented in the state from July 1, each institute will have to have two acres of land for the training of heavy motor vehicles including trucks. It will be one acre in hilly districts. The officials in transport department said that the training institute will have to provide nearly 20 hours of training which will be on field and another nine hours of theory and stimulator training.
An official at Ahmedabad RTO said, “We will invite applications from such institutes. So far, we have not received any application in Ahmedabad. However, we expect some big institutes to come forward and set up their own tracks.”
The institute will have to have two classrooms with teaching aids like computers and multimedia projectors for holding theory classes.
The official said that the minimum driving experience for a trainer has to be five years, in addition to a proficiency test certificate in a course in motor mechanics or any other higher qualification in mechanical engineering from an institution established by the central or a state government or from an institution recognised by the Board of Technical Education of a state government.
Higher investment cost could be impediment: Experts
Ahmedabad: The experts are of the opinion that setting up driving institutes will require higher capital investment. As the guidelines mandate that such schools should have two acres of land. Experts feel that higher fee and lower participation might result in non-viability of the project.
J V Barvadia, a former RTO officer, said, “Setting up these institutes will require at least Rs 15-20 crore, due to high land cost even if one considers the area outside the city limits. Even with the land cost outside city area or urban development authority area non-agriculture land will cost roughly Rs 2 -3 crore for a driving school, and other operational costs will be Rs 3-5 lakhs per month. The initial investment will lead to high fees and will not attract players.
Barvadia further said that there will be a lack of trained personnel and first the ministry should introduce a course of certified driving instructors. Only after completion of such a course a trainee can conduct such trainings.
Another road transport expert said that two acres of land is usually available outside the city area, but this too will discourage the students.