Technical glitches stall faceless DL services at Surat RTO; applicants face hardship

Surat: Technical and administrative issues affecting the faceless driving licence services of the Surat RTO have left several important services stalled, causing increasing difficulties for applicants seeking licence renewals and duplicate licences.

Applicants whose names or surnames differ between their Aadhaar cards and existing driving licences are currently unable to complete the online process. The system does not accept even minor discrepancies or differences in the sequence of names, forcing applicants to visit the RTO office in person.

The problem has been compounded by the fact that corrections or changes to names, surnames and spellings on driving licences have reportedly remained suspended at the Surat RTO for a long time. As a result, applicants who need to renew an expired licence or obtain a duplicate after losing the original are unable to complete their applications through the faceless system.

Another major issue is the suspension of the driving licence backlog data entry process, which is required when details of older licences are not available in the online computer system. The process has reportedly remained closed for months.

Under the existing system, applicants whose licences have expired and remained unrenewed for more than one year may have to undergo a fresh driving test. Due to the backlog process remaining unavailable, some licence holders now face the prospect of taking the driving test again for reasons attributed to the technical and administrative shortcomings of the system.

The inability to renew licences is also creating problems for vehicle owners on the road, with traffic police reportedly penalising motorists found driving with expired licences.

The situation has raised questions over the implementation of the faceless service, which was introduced to reduce the need for citizens to visit government offices. Instead, applicants affected by discrepancies in their licence and Aadhaar details are being forced to make repeated visits to the Surat RTO.

DeshGujarat