Team-BHP - Should the Indian Driving Licence be easier or tougher to get?

http://firstbiz.firstpost.com/econom...how-96623.html

Quote:

...you may not need to visit a Regional Transport Office (RTO) to get a driving licence in future. In a bid to end widespread corruption at RTOs, the Minister for Road Transport & Highways wants the functions of RTOs to be severely curtailed, at least when it comes to public dealing and make the entire process of obtaining a driving licence go online. But RTOs will not be shut down because they will continue to perform functions which do not require regular public interface.

A senior ministry official told Firstbiz the ministry has already begun an extensive study of the process followed by UK in this regard. A joint secretary has visited the DVLA offices in Britain and evaluated all the processes where the driving test and licences reach the aspirant without him having to meet a single licensing official. Similarly, vehicle licensing will also be done online.

But this system is complicated and will take some time to get implemented. "The UK took 15 years to put this in practice, we cannot do it overnight but efforts are on," the ministry official quoted earlier said.

Seriously??? Driving tests without having to meet a single licensing official? So how would driving tests be conducted? By assessing an NFS score?

And from the perspective of road safety, should India make it easier to get a driving license for everybody, or tougher?

Your thoughts please...

I think the author of article has missed some points. I do not know for sure but common sense says so. I cannot imagine people getting DL without undergoing a driving test. That was the case in past at our small city but no more. One has to compulsorily go through the test to get a driving licence. I am using the word 'undergo' rather than pass, as I don't know if one fails in the test or not (talking strictly about Ranchi). And that process cannot be completed without having to 'meet' RTO officials.

The interaction may be kept at the minimum but cannot be completely done away with. May be the application, status and driving test date, etc. information can be worked online...but driving test? Never. I am a strong supporter of not only a driving test, but also driver's training as a part of licensing process.

Regards,
Saket

I don't know which country in the world can have a license obtaining procedure without a driving test with an official. If the report claims that the government has that idea, then we are going the wrong way.
Dealing with corruption is one thing, but the whole driving test is a farce in itself in India. If they are studying the UK, then it should be as rigorous.

I think the person who wrote the article got his context mixed up between 'procedure' and 'pre-requisites' in getting a license.

The procedure definitely needs to be simpler and clearly-defined (as in no running around pillar to post, automated if possible taking touts and corrupt babus out of the picture) but the pre-requisites should be stricter (training, tests, assessments etc.).

SS-Traveller: I think you may want to consider clarifying context on the poll.

I think it is a good move by our Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to end malpractices in regional transport offices. As he rightly said, in order to curb the 'Laxmi Darshan' (slang for bribe) that goes on in RTOs, these guys shouldn't be allowed to deal with the public.

Also they are in the process of bringing in a law to scrap regional transport offices (RTO) and replacing them with an efficient alternative system in the next few months (Hopefully!!)

If someone is willing to spend 2k (this is the going rate in Delhi these days) then the process cannot get any easier. Your agent would do everything except for that one visit that you'd have to make to get the pic clicked. I reckon if I up the amount by another thousand or two they would have an alternate to that visit also.

A good move as "embee" says, the reduction in interface might actually reduce the hassles of obtaining a DL in the long run. However, I remain skeptical about the immediate impact of such a move.

However, considering that the current process of testing is downright ridiculous, (I am not aware of Metro and other Tier 1/2 cities), especially in small towns, it requires the applicant to go in a forward gear (1st and sometimes 2nd gear) for about 50m and reverse the same distance. If the applicant does it without any hassles, he gets through else, has to do it again. No assessment on other abilities required. Also, the testing process for commercial vehicle licencing is exactly the same. The applicant, who will be certified to drive commercial vehicles up to the size of a fully loaded TATA 407 (or equivalent) is tested for 100m in a Maruti 800. I wonder and dread what the process for Bus/ Trucks is. (This process I narrate of those who do not take a shortcut through agents and middlemen)

As said by many of us above, rooting out the RTO interface might be a good/bad decision, but until the process of testing is also made practical and more better assessment techniques are adopted, the unfortunate scenes of current day driving in India are bound to continue or worsen.

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller (Post 3521965)

Seriously??? Driving tests without having to meet a single licensing official? So how would driving tests be conducted? By assessing an NFS score?

Current "officials" do not check for anything other than someone being able to start the car and move it forward.

Any automatic test would be better then this, things like Simulator for parallel parking; Panic braking, ability to follow road rules, respecting zebra lines will make test somewhat useful.

Similarly, there could be an automated test for traffic rules.

Finally government officials have given emphasis on cars safety to perform crash tests before giving green signal to the vehicle as road worthy. That's something good. clap:

But issuing the driving license without meeting the government officials seems to be unsafe! And if any one can give the test online then whats the proof that particular person himself is attending the test? He can get it done by some other expert! But i can be wrong here, if its a online test may be he has to appear in front of a web cam.

But again there will be a huge difference in practical driving and giving a test online. Its like a real world and a virtual world. Its not a sane decision to counter corruption. To make one good thing they are putting others in risk. :Frustrati

My younger brother got his license made last year, RTO - HR51. The licensing system has changed by leaps and bounds compared to what it was 5 years ago.

They are now providing detailed handbooks of the relevant traffic rules and signs and conduct workshops on driving etiquette BEFORE giving the learner's license.

They have made a dedicated track right next to the office, complete with traffic lights, intersections, turns, inclines etc. Every applicant is elavuated here, and the evaluation is done nice and properly. Applicants are required to clear this before applying for the permanent license.

My brother was failed twice:
-once for stalling the car while driving off an incline
-once for not asking his co-passenger to belt up. clap:

I add that I never had to grease any palms when I got my license made. Everything was done systematically and as per the prevalent rules.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain (Post 3522344)

They are now providing detailed handbooks of the relevant traffic rules and signs and conduct workshops on driving etiquette BEFORE giving the learner's license.

They have made a dedicated track right next to the office, complete with traffic lights, intersections, turns, inclines etc. Every applicant is elavuated here, and the evaluation is done nice and properly. Applicants are required to clear this before applying for the permanent license.

My brother was failed twice:
-once for stalling the car while driving off an incline
-once for not asking his co-passenger to belt up. clap:

This sounds very very encouraging - especially the bit about conducting workshops before issuing learner licence. However, a full driving test on a dedicated track without real-world traffic situations is not a welcome move IMO, at the time the full licence is issued.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao (Post 3522145)

+1

The article talks about emulating the process that is followed in UK. I dont think they hand out licenses in UK based on NFS scores lol: A little online research shows that the process is quite involved actually and requires instructor led classes.
The article mentions scrapping RTOs but in the same line talks about replacing them with an alternative system as well.
As for the poll, there really is no single right option there. As Chetan has mentioned, the "process" of obtaining the license can definitely be made easier while the "eligibility" or "pre requisite knowledge" must be made more stringent.