[rajeev k]

Recently in Kerala the RTOs are asking for proof of permanent address also if the address in the licence and in the acceptable IDs have to be same. The renewed licences are now sent by registered post by the MV Department. Medical Certificate is a must for quite some time which earlier was required only for licence having validation to drive transport vehicles.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

...
Fill the prescribed form, pay 200/- as fees for smart card, submit the original licence booklet, and get yourself photographed for smart card, once you submit the documents they will tell you by when your card will be issued.

Hari - read your earlier post regarding the medical certificate that you had to get. Do you know if this is mandatory for all renewals or based on age of the person ?

[NPV]

Celebrating 20 years of getting a driver's license ? It may be time to get your Driver's License renewed so read on...

I recently had to apply for renewal of my DL and was very apprehensive (as always about anything related to RTO) but it turned out to be fine, sharing the experience & procedure here:

1. Fill out the Forms:
(a)Form 1 & 1a (Physical Fitness to Drive - Declaration & Medical Certificate) - this is required regardless of age of the applicant. The medical certificate must be signed by a doctor from a government medical organisation/hospital. Form 1 & 1a are available for download as a single document here. These forms are also available at the RTO office free of cost but they mostly have only the Kannada version which was very confusing. I ended up not understanding the questions enough to decide whether to answer yes or no
The form also tells you if you need additional documents based on the Yes/No answer to certain questions, so please read and fill it out carefully.
Paste 1 photograph (almost at the end of Form 1a) and have the doctor sign across the photo in such a way that the signature if partly on the photo and partly on the form.

(b)Form 9 (Application for renewal of DL) - simple and easy to fill, form is available for download here. Paste 1 photograph at the top right side of the form.
This form also mentions that you need to enclose 3 photographs but you can ignore it since photograph will be taken at the RTO office.

2. Get a Self-addressed envelope with Postal stamp of Rs.17/- Your new DL will be sent to you postal address by Speed Post (these are available at the shops in Indiranagar BDA Complex)

3. Take the filled out forms, self-addressed envelope, original DL booklet/Smart Card (I had the booklet) and go to Room/Hall #6 to the Superintendent's counter for verification. After a quick
check the person will doodle something on the forms and ask you to pay the fees.

4. Go to Room # 1/2 (Treasury) and pay the fees - Rs.250/- (Rs.201 for renewal and Rs.49 for Smart Card)

5. Back to Room #6 for re-verification of the papers by the Superintendent. You will be asked to proceed to the photo counter in the same room.

6. After your photograph is taken, go the counter marked "Inward" usually next to the Superintendent. Submit all the documents there.

7. Collect an acknowledgement and you're all set, you should receive your renewed DL in 30 working days - keep your fingers crossed!

*Procedure mentioned above is applicable for Karnataka, my local RTO is the Indiranangar office.

All done in about 20 minutes, there is really no need for an agent! Most of the agents were just doing a guide's job taking their clients to each counter and telling them what to do!.
Also, there is a counter at the entrance of the RTO office where you can get the forms and an RTO staff can guide you to fill forms and explain the process, room #, counter #, etc

Felt sad to let go of the DL booklet, old school as it may seem it still registers easily as an official document unlike a smart card! But I still get to hold on to a piece
of history - I had a red plastic card license for which there was an endorsement in the booklet. These plastic cards were issued for convenience and are not 'smart' ones (no chip in them) so when these were introduced, one did not have to surrender the booklet to get them. I had submitted this card along with the booklet but the Superintendent asked me to take it back

Thanks to @Lukeskywalker who guided me and patiently answered all my questions before I visited the RTO office.

[null]

Thanks to the above post, it was pretty easy to follow what need to be done for DL renewal. Adding explicit details for Rajajinagar RTO (Bangalore West?)

1. As mentioned above, download Form-9 (DL Renewal form) and fitness certificate & medical certificate form. There is a govt health care center near Rajajinagar ESI hospital / Old Police Station bus stop (or there is another one here from what I heard from a guy in the queue at RTO today) where you can get the Medical certificate done. Note: the doctor comes at 11.30 or 12 (at least when I went there last week and ended up wasting 1 day as fees counter was closed by the time I returned). So, you may end up losing a day just for this if you go on Saturday. Affix 1 photo on the medical fitness certificate across which the doctor will sign & put a rubber stamp seal.
Note: Fitness certificate can be filled by you - self declaration. The medical certificate will be filled by the doctor.

2. Take the filled up form-9 with 1 photo, fitness certificate & medical certificate (photo affixed & signed), old DL book or card, an envelope with Rs17 stamp with your postal address written (you get it for 25Rs in the RTO complex) & go to Counter 20 and say, you are here for DL renewal. The person will look at it for 5 mins. Don't bother to explain anything except saying you are here for DL renewal. He will write 350rs and ask you to pay it at the counter & come back.

3. Goto the payment counter at the entrance of the RTO office inside the building. Give Rs 301 to the lady, and she will give you a receipt. Adjacent to her is the counter for fees for smart card - give 50rs and get a 49rs hologram sticker (which says SMART card fees) put on the fees paid challan.

4. Enter the challan /fees details into Form 9 (I missed this - lets see what happens). Staple/pin Form-9, Fitness Certificate, Medical Certificate, DL (put in a plastic pouch if you have a card), return envelope together and go back to Counter 20.

5. He will write something in his notebook/ledger and send you to Counter 17 for biometric finger scan, photo & signature (for the DL card). This step is pretty quick. Just takes a minute, unless there is a big queue. At the end, she will scratch against the challan/hologram and ask you to go back to Counter 20.

6. Return back to counter 20. He will ask you if the photo is done & will give an acknowledgement slip. If asked when will we receive the DL, he will just say, it will arrive by post.

Entire process took like 30 mins as there were not many people for this activity.

I missed on
1. writing the fees paid details in Form-9 (wanted to, but forgot)
2. misplaced the feed paid challan copy somewhere (should not matter, since I have the ack slip).

Tips:
1. Medical certificate takes time if the doctor is not around. So, factor in the time needed for this activity. OR best is to get it done prior to going to RTO office. You can go to any BBMP medical health Center near to your place.
2. The fees payment counter operates only from 10.30am to 12 noon on Saturdays. She wont start on time at 10.30am, but is very particular about her closing time at 12. I went there at 12:01 (may be 12:02) and she said it is closed last Saturday. Today at 10.25, she came, but disappeared to get the printer forms, and then spent 10 mins counting some 20-30 notes again & again & again. So, plan your visit accordingly.
3. Carry adequate change. 301Rs + 50Rs + 25Rs + any parking fees (I just went by an auto since the place is always crowded).
4. Carry a stapler/pins, pen, glue with you to avoid any unwanted talk with folks at the counters.
5. The person at the help desk at the entrance was cheerful and answering everyone's queries. You can speak to him if needed.
6. Don't forget to write your postal address on the envelope for DL delivery

[rogercharlie]

My driving license is expiring in April as I reach the age of 50. Can I apply for renewal before my 50th birthday or only after I reach 50? The web sites says "within 30 days of expiry".

Is that interpreted as within 30 days after expiry or + - 30 days from date of expiry?

Thanks in advance!

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by rogercharlie

My driving license is expiring in April as I reach the age of 50. Can I apply for renewal before my 50th birthday or only after I reach 50? The web sites says "within 30 days of expiry".

Is that interpreted as within 30 days after expiry or + - 30 days from date of expiry?

Thanks in advance!

Logically speaking, RTO issues you the license till 50 years of age and after that they want you to undergo a medical, prove your fitness and then get it renewed. So this "within 30 days of expiry" must be + and not - . But, do check it out and let us know if you manage to get it renewed without a medical.

[Secretariat]

I reached this venerable age two years ago and I applied for the renewal about 15 days before the exact date I turned 50 , for that's the date the license expires. Medical certificate is a must of course - no license I was told is renewed after you turn 50 in the absence of the medical certificate.

I am sure you know that the reward for reaching "senior citizen" status is that we have to repeat this process every 5 years. We shall therefore acquire considerable intimacy with the RTO's office !

My renewal was at the Whitefield RTO.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by NPV

All done in about 20 minutes, there is really no need for an agent! Most of the agents were just doing a guide's job taking their clients to each counter and telling them what to do!.

Thanks. Applied for renewal of DL at Indiranagar RTO and it was a breeze and like NPV said about 20 min tops. Fortunately I had got the address on DL changed from Meghalaya to Bangalore a few months ago and thus the easy time for DL renewal.

[akshay87kumar]

I have my driving licence (paper booklet type) issued from Bihar. Is it possible to get it converted to smart card in Gurgaon? I could as well get it done in Bhagalpur, but the office here is rather inefficient. I have made four trips already, and there have been all sorts of woes like missing form, printer malfunction, absent employee, etc.

I will be just fine if the booklet type driving licence is good enough to be used in Gurgaon.

[askicode]

I recently applied for renewal @Electronic City RTO. The Electronic City RTO has got shifted to BTM 4th Stage. You can look at this link to get the location http://janasahaya.blogspot.in/2013/09/ka51-rto-office-shifted-from-electronic.html

Once you reach there you need to go to the reception where they will check your forms. I had missed out on Address change form which I got from the opposite Xerox shop. Ironically this form is not available in the RTO premise. One has to go to the opposite building where any shop would stock these forms.

I had the filled Form 9, Address Change Form, Address Proof, 17 stamp Rs envelope, DL inside a plastic pouch and was first directed to Room - 2 for verification and sign. This has a long queue as there are lot of first timers trying to get their DL. They give you a token here which you need to keep it safe as it would be asked at the biometric scan room. After you get the sign then you need to go to the Cash Counter and pay the amount. After that go to Room 8 for photo and finger print. Then you need to go to Room 4 to get the details updated in the system. Lastly you need to take those documents back to reception where they will give you an acknowledgement.

Thats it. I only hope I do get the renewed DL without any issues.
Try to get to the RTO before 10 AM. I was out by 12:00 as there was a lot of rush on Saturday. By that time a queue had formed just for entering into the reception.

[vnabhi]

My DL is coming up for a second renewal next month. It was renewed for 5 years in the last cycle. So I went to Khairatabad RTO with all the requisite documents.

But I was surprised to know that I needed to go to Secunderabad RTO, as my previous renewal was done there! I remember I had to go to that place in the last renewal cycle because my original license's smart card was done there, after I shifted to Hyderabad. At the time of shifting, my address came under Secunderabad jurisdiction.

But at the time of renewal 5 years back, I made them incorporate my new address in the DL. I've been staying in the new address since 2005 Decemeber, and it comes under Khairatabad RTO, which is only 2 kms from my house. My car's RC card has my new address in it.

What intrigues me is that I need to travel all the way to Trimulgherry RTO at Sec'bad, just because my records exist there. No wonder people are fed up with bureaucratic wrangles.

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

My DL is coming up for a second renewal next month. It was renewed for 5 years in the last cycle. So I went to Khairatabad RTO with all the requisite documents.

But I was surprised to know that I needed to go to Secunderabad RTO, as my previous renewal was done there! I remember I had to go to that place in the last renewal cycle because my original license's smart card was done there, after I shifted to Hyderabad. At the time of shifting, my address came under Secunderabad jurisdiction.

But at the time of renewal 5 years back, I made them incorporate my new address in the DL. I've been staying in the new address since 2005 Decemeber, and it comes under Khairatabad RTO, which is only 2 kms from my house. My car's RC card has my new address in it.

What intrigues me is that I need to travel all the way to Trimulgherry RTO at Sec'bad, just because my records exist there. No wonder people are fed up with bureaucratic wrangles.

I suppose that's how it is. I remember my dad travelling upto Nagpur to renew his heavy vehicle license because his records exist there, even though the address mentioned was in A.P.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

I suppose that's how it is. I remember my dad travelling upto Nagpur to renew his heavy vehicle license because his records exist there, even though the address mentioned was in A.P.

That sounds crazy! At least I should thank my stars that I was not asked to go to Vizag to get my smart card, when I applied at Sec'bad RTO after shifting to Hyderabad!

Edit: My original DL issued at Vizag was that long, foldable type.

[vnabhi]

I ventured to Secunderabad RTO at Trimulgherry this morning, and was surprised that:

1. The roads were not crowded.
2. The RTO had not too many customers.
3. The entire renewal process took only 25 minutes, including parking, buying and filling the forms, stapling the photo, medical certificate, fee payment and photo/ thumb impression.

Fees paid included:

1. Rs 6 for 3 forms (1, 1A and 9), and Re 1 for photo pouch (into which I had to insert my original DL)
2. Rs 30 for Doctor's certificate
3. Rs 485 for renewal fees, including smart card and postage charges
4. Rs 10 for car parking

Overall, a very pleasant experience. Only issue was that I had to drive 11 kms to an RTO, though there was one just 2 kms away from my house!

[JoseVijay]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I ventured to Secunderabad RTO at Trimulgherry this morning, and was surprised that:

1. The roads were not crowded.
2. The RTO had not too many customers.
3. The entire renewal process took only 25 minutes, including parking, buying and filling the forms, stapling the photo, medical certificate, fee payment and photo/ thumb impression.

Fees paid included:

1. Rs 6 for 3 forms (1, 1A and 9), and Re 1 for photo pouch (into which I had to insert my original DL)
2. Rs 30 for Doctor's certificate
3. Rs 485 for renewal fees, including smart card and postage charges
4. Rs 10 for car parking

Overall, a very pleasant experience. Only issue was that I had to drive 11 kms to an RTO, though there was one just 2 kms away from my house!

Good that you have not used the agents to do this for you. I suppose you need to be present for the Doctor's Certificate. May be the recent ACB raids have also played its bit in the smooth process.