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Got laminated printout instead of smartcard license: Cause for concern?

5th July 2022, 13:48 by Ananth Iyer

I contacted someone in the RTO and he mentioned that PVC cards are not given out for the past 2 years.

BHPian Garud recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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 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

Here's what BHPian DicKy had to say on the matter:

For the past two years?
In Kerala we have been getting these laminated pieces of paper ever since the old books were phased out.
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.

Here's what BHPian Sebring had to say on the matter:

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

Here's what BHPian bajoseph04 had to say on the matter:

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.

Here's what BHPian RedTerrano had to say on the matter:

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.
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.