A driving license is the most document we hold to prove that we are eligible to drive a vehicle in India. It is a mandatory document to possess as per the Motor Vehicles Act, of 1988. Under section 3 r/w 181 Motor Vehicle Act, a person driving without a valid license shall have to pay a penalty of INR 5000/- and or imprisonment of around three months.

Under section 5 r/w 180 Motor Vehicle Act, a person allowing his vehicle to be driven by a person who does not have a valid license shall have to pay a penalty of INR 10000/- with or without three months of imprisonment. 

Steps to obtain a Driving License in India

To obtain a Driving License in India, one must have a learner’s license which is valid for 6 months. Given below are the steps to obtain a Learner’s License and Driving License in India. 

1. Go to https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/ and select the option of Drivers/Learners License. 
2. It redirects you to a page where we have to select the state, for eg: Tamil Nadu. 
3. After the state is selected, we have to select the option of Issue of Learners License. 
4. Then we fiLearner License out the application that they’ve given. 
5. Once the application is filled out, the necessary documents are uploaded to the site.
6. We have a pay a fee of approximately 200 and generate the payment slip. 
7. Finally, we book a slot in the nearest RTO( Regional Transport Office) and take the printouts of the required documents( mentioned on the website) and get them verified at the RTO. 
8. The Learner License wiLearner License be generated within 1-2 hours after verification.
9. After a minimum period of 30 days, a Learner License can be converted into a Driving License.
10. To get a Driving License, one must enter their Learner License number and Date of Birth. 

FoLearner Licenseowing is the list of documents that an individual wiLearner License have to submit to obtain a permanent Driving License. 

• Original learner’s license
• Application in Form 4
• Applicable application fees of Rs. 200
• Age and address proof documents such as Aadhar card, PAN card, birth certificate, school leaving certificate, LIC policy bond, etc.
• Passport size photographs

1. Once the documents are uploaded, a fee needs to be paid.
2. Post the fee payment, a Driving License slot can be booked for a driving test.
3.  The driving test needs to be passed to obtain the license.

A Driving License is valid for 20 years or till the holder attains the age of 40. Once the license expires, it can be renewed either online or offline.

Renewal of Driving License Online

A Driving License can be renewed online by the following steps:

NOTE: You’ll need to have a valid Driving License to be eligible to renew your license.

1. Go to https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/ and click on Drivers/ Learners License. 
2. It redirects you to a tab where you select your state. For instance, Tamil Nadu. 
3. Once you select the state, there are several options under the title ‘Contactless License Services’, select Renewal of DL under it. 
4. The site will then ask for your existing Driving License number and Date of Birth. 
5. After a valid entry, on the new screen, there will be a set of instructions to follow. 
6. The instructions might have a set of applications to fill out and documents to be uploaded. 
7. Followed by document verification is the fee payment. 
8. The fee payment takes you to the government payment portal and a receipt is generated post the fee payment. 
9. An appointment or a slot needs to be booked with the nearby RTO to verify the documents (details of the documents will be mentioned on the parivaahan website).
10. After the document verification, our Driving License can be renewed. 
11. After renewal, the validity of the Driving License is given for 5 years in the case of the non-transport vehicle and 3 years for transport vehicles.

Renewal of Driving License Offline

1. Visit your nearest RTO and collect the application form from them. 
2. The officer present at the RTO will give you a list of required documents. 
3. Book a slot with the officer after paying a specific amount as fees.
4. Submit the filled application along with the specified documents during the given slot and once they’re verified your Driving License can be renewed. 

Checking the status of your License

1. Go to https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/# and select online services.
2. Click on ‘Driving Service Related Services’ and it redirects you to a tab where you select your state.
3. On the left corner, you’ll see ‘Application Status’ where you enter your application number and Date of Birth.
4. After submission, our application status will be displayed (whether our DL is approved, renewed etc.)

As of today, technology has made lives much simpler and applying for a license has become much easier.

Happy and Fun Learning!