[dZired]

The Union Government has implemented the 22nd Amendment of the Central Motor Vehicles Rule, which has resulted in rise in the fee for driver's licence and driving tests. This is the first time that the fee has been increased since 1989.

The entire procedure of getting a driver's licence, including the driving test, earlier used to cost Rs. 250. This fee has now been doubled to Rs. 500. Moreover, the said fee will further increase by Rs. 300, every time the applicant sits for a repeat test. Similarly, getting a learner's licence will now attract a fee of Rs. 150, along with a new charge of Rs. 50 for the driving test.

The fee for issuance of an international driving permit has been doubled to Rs. 1,000. Adding a new vehicle category in an existing licence will now cost Rs. 100, double than the earlier charges. Fee for renewal of driving licence will now cost Rs. 200, getting a four-fold hike.

Registration fee for new driving schools has also been increased from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 10,000, while the licence's duplication will cost Rs. 5,000. Driving schools will need to renew their licences once every 5 years.

The revised charges have been implemented from January 6, 2017.

Source: Times of India

Link to Team-BHP News

[dass]

While all these are good steps to ensure they earn more revenue, I don't see them doing anything to make the process a little more simpler and ensure that common people can get their license without having to go through a broker. Am I missing anything?

[amansanc]

Good move. I feel it is the peanuts they charge for issuing licenses and the very stupid driving test that is responsible for majority of the mishaps on the roads. It infact leads to unnecessary traffic too. License shouldn't be so easy to get and shouldn't be cheap either.

Originally Posted by dass

While all these are good steps to ensure they earn more revenue, I don't see them doing anything to make the process a little more simpler and ensure that common people can get their license without having to go through a broker. Am I missing anything?

The process is simple enough even now. I haven't gone through an agent for either my two-wheeler license (non-geared) or four-wheeler license. Infact, the staff and officers at RTO were happy to deal with the applicant directly. These days, agents anyway just do the job of filling up the form and tell the client to do the rest. They basically just guide you which line to stand in when which I feel is not needed for most people.

[dass]

Originally Posted by amansanc

The process is simple enough even now. I haven't gone through an agent for either my two-wheeler license (non-geared) or four-wheeler license. Infact, the staff and officers at RTO were happy to deal with the applicant directly. These days, agents anyway just do the job of filling up the form and tell the client to do the rest. They basically just guide you which line to stand in when which I feel is not needed for most people.

Simple.. not smooth. You still have to spend anywhere between 2-3 hours if you are trying to get your work done. Some places a little better than the others.

Case to point. Pre 2000 DL's aren't on their database. If you need to renew it, everything is manual.

[stanjohn123]

You go to any RTO office in India, you will need a lot of patience. Yes, you can very well do it yourself if you have the time.

The staff's are not at all courteous ( in TN atleast ), they don't smile at you while talking and most of the time they are not on their seat's but idling away their time chatting with other staff's.

If you go to the payment counter there will be 5 agents in front of you with each agent carrying 10-20 documents of his applicants. It'll be like waiting for ages to get your turn.

So like everything this govt has been doing, the taxes and service charges keep increasing with no real improvement in services. Not fair if you ask me.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by dZired

The Union Government has implemented the 22nd Amendment of the Central Motor Vehicles Rule, which has resulted in rise in the fee for driver's licence and driving tests.This is the first time that the fee has been increased since 1989

While this is a good move to earn more revenue, I have multiple questions to the body who has raised the license cost. Will the increase in cost address any of these issues ?

1. What additional benefit will provided to the payers?
Answer: IMHO Nothing
2. What measures will be taken to curb the illegal transactions / bribing?
Answer: Nothing. You will still see several agents at the entrance of RTO asking you to pay extra money so that you get what you want.
3. What additional tests will be posed in the driving test to identify the right candidates eligible for the license and weeds are separated out?
Answer: Nothing. You will still see all sorts of morons coming out with license and flying colors.

If any of the above is really addressed, then, it is worth paying the additional cost.

Since the above issues are not addressed and it is just increase in the amount to be paid, I think this increase is just a revenue for government and additional tax for a common man who anyways do not bother to bribe at least twice the fee to the agent to get his job done


I am sounding little negative here but I honestly feel this is a hard reality

[djkher]

Might be bit OT but I feel its related it seems like the charges for vehicle registration have also increased! The charge varies for Hypothecated vechicle vs non-hypotheicated vehicle etc.
I booked S-Cross in December. The registration isn't done yet. The dealer says the change in fees has affected most Mumbai? RTOs and as a result the whole process is crawling. I could confirm this from a friend who has booked a Tiago and he too got notified about this changes by his dealer.
The whole process it seems is in a limbo. I should have received my car in Jan 1st week but it looks like an endless wait now