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-   -   Got my driving license, its a laminated printout! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/253663-got-my-driving-license-its-laminated-printout.html)

I joined a few months ago while I was giving my LL exam and well, things have gone smoothly. I was training from the local Maruti Driving School and their training was pretty helpful. Passed my DL exams in the first try :Cheering:and got the soft copy of the license soon after.

And then the wait began, for the hard copy/smart card that is.

Today, I got a call from the showroom associated with the driving school that my license was ready. It came as a bit of a surprise as I was expecting the card to be delivered to my address. Well, anyway, I went to the showroom and was given my "card".



As you can see, it's a laminated black and white printout of the download. When I asked about my PVC Smart Card, they replied that those are not given out nowadays. This came as a surprise to me. I contacted someone in the RTO and he mentioned that PVC cards are not given out for the past 2 years.

Now, I am not at all comfortable with the current "card". I have seen drivers getting quizzed by traffic police for less. Am I being paranoid? Is this the norm nowadays? If not, what do I need to do to get a smart card?

Location: Kolkata

For the past two years?

rl:In Kerala we have been getting these laminated pieces of paper ever since the old books were phased out.rl:

Guess, this has to do with the ubiquitous chip shortage.

Don't worry about it. The police should know better since the RTO themselves issued this.

Looks like the old books could come back :) Yeah, the chip shortage has hit Vehicle smart cards too. I'm using online resource to store detail

I think I got lucky then. Got my smart card DL here in Bangalore (in April, this is from Kasturinagar RTO). Took about 4w after passing the driving test.

Even before the chip shortage, driving licenses were given as laminated printouts in Chennai. The chip cards were used for a short period I believe. There's nothing to worry about the printed license. You can always use the mParivahan app on your phone to validate or to show it to authorities if they question you on the legitimacy of the laminated card.

My license from Pondicherry was a smart card (when I had to renew it) but the letters started fading off after months in the wallet.

Transferred license to Kerala and got the laminated printed card and while it was initially disappointing, realized that I needn't worry about the letters getting rubbed off.

Out of the numerous documents which you can get issued to you by GoI, driving license is one.

You can "pull" your license from choosing WB from here
https://www.digilocker.gov.in/dashboard/documents

Recently I was pulled over by the cops while travelling to Ratnagiri. I showed him my license on my DigiLocker app and he was satisfied.

I got the address on my MH02 license changed to Pune and had a proper card-type printed DL issued and delivered in August 2021. So if the story about not issuing physical DLs is true, it's limited to WB!

Incidentally a friend was stopped in Kolkata last week and the cop refused at first to accept his Digilocker DL saying that he needed to produce a card! My friend persisted and they eventually relented. So you should be fine with this and a Digilocker backup.

I already have it downloaded.
And this is why I am still paranoid :eek:

Physical issuance of Smart Cards for registration of cars and driving licenses have been stopped for the last two years, here in Calcutta. I have heard that the RTO’s will resume the service once the vendor has been finalised. Till then, it’s okay to use the laminated paper and Digilocker. Calcutta police and WB police both have recently come up with circulars saying that they will accept the documents shown through digital
mode. So, one doesn’t need to be paranoid at all.

P.S- I also renewed my license in 2020 and got a printout and made it into a laminated card just as you did. At least you have your’s stamped, so that’s a validation rl:

lol: I have my current car registered in Kerala and RC is a laminated paper (that too odd size which won't fit in a normal wallet). Inside paper was not cut properly and person who did the lamination did not bother to fix it (lazy idiot).

I believe some states have never received the smart card licenses. MH started giving them out right after the booklets were phased out, for new licenses, renewals, and you could also just ask them to swap your valid booklet license to a card.

Do we know which states still don't offer the smart cards?

The old smart cards are back in Bangalore. I renewed my DL 2 weeks ago and got the smart card DL. Took 3 days to get it.

I got my DL renewed in March this year in TNadu and i got a smartcard.

Is Digilocker awareness low? I also saw a thread about storing hard copy of license a while ago.

Anyways, I have been using my Digilocker from past 3-4 years now, for license and as well as vehicle documents. Hard copy is not required. Cops shouldnt be insisting on hard copy unless you get caught in some serious soup.Download it as mentioned by RedTerrano.