Renewing my driving license online in Bengaluru: A seamless process

It is worth mentioning here that apparently there is a 30 day grace period after the driving license expires.

BHPian casuallyonroad recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I had a better experience recently at Bangalore South (Jayanagar) RTO. My friend who actually applied completely online & DIY in Jun 2024 at Yashwanthapura (Bengaluru North) RTO got the physical DL in 2 months, and I had the benefit of his experience.

I will only mention the things which happened differently to me (compared to the above anecdote, or other threads on this topic):

I started the application process 2 days after my DL expired (surprisingly, the mParivahan app was showing my DL as active even after it expired - more on this later).

I downloaded beforehand the "blank" form 1a from Parivahan (medical fitness form - Parivahan tells you if you need this) and filled it manually and pasted photograph at the assigned space.
[Mentioning this specifically as a different thread ("DIY: Renewal of Maharashtra (MH) Driving Licence online") mentions that it was mandatory to print the pre-filled form 1a generated by Parivahan and get it signed by a doctor. This may be state/RTO specific.]

After an unsuccessful attempt at a nearby PHC (doctor is not there, you won't get this certificate here, go to the general hospital, blah blah) , went to a different one after asking around. The procedure there was smooth:

• The place looked surprisingly neat and clean for a government PHC

• The staff politely asked me to wait for my turn to meet the doctor

• The doctor actually asked several questions about my health & vision and assigned to a different (may be junior) doctor for further checking who even checked my BP and gave some advice based on it

• She then signed the form with the registration number & stamp

• I politely reminded her to sign/stamp on the photograph as well

It is then that I actually started the application process in Parivahan now that I have everything required (read: form 1a). I wanted to finish it in one sitting and it took a couple of hours due to errors, timeouts etc. from which was relatively easy to recover (no loss of data/inputs happened at any stage).

I had change of address also (important as the DL is sent by post to the address on record) and though my latest address comes under the jurisdiction of a different RTO (still in Bangalore), I chose to apply at the original RTO based on my friend's experience. [I was fine with this as both RTOs are in Bangalore, and I could switch to the other RTO if required with not so much hassle (relatively); however, not sure how it works if the current address is in a different city or even state]. The change of address was available as an add-on service while applying for renewal and was smooth.

I uploaded scanned copies of the certified form 1a, DL (expired) and Aadhaar (address proof). There is a size limit on the PDF files you upload, so some tweaking was required here. Also had to upload a photograph (there was an option to get it from Aadhaar database, may be because I did Aadhaar eKYC as part of this application process; however, I chose to upload photo) and signature scan - the requirement for these is very stringent (small file size) and it was frustrating, having to try several times (I was worried that if make the file-size too small, the photo will lose details).

Payment of fee was a hassle as it got timed out a couple of times but it was fine at the end.

Then I waited.

Meanwhile, I printed the fee receipt and application acknowledgement (available for download on Parivahan) and kept it in my vehicle just in case Murphy's law kicks in and I am stopped by cops for checking the just-expired DL.

It is worth mentioning here that apparently there is a 30 day grace period after the DL expires and the expired DL is valid during this time [You can refer to sections 14 & 15 in MV Act 1988.

Disclaimer: Don't take my words on this as I am not an expert on the subject. It is advisable to kick off the renewal process at least a month before it expires (apparently we can apply 1 year before expiry but the RTO folks told me that you can apply only before 1 month; YMMV) so that you have the renewed DL before the old one expires.

My digital copy of DL in mParivahan app was showing the status as ACTIVE in bold green even after I refreshed; I guessed that may be because it is within the grace period and it was minor solace for me [I was fancying my chances of successfully arguing with a traffic cop based on the active status of my expired DL ] while I waited for the RTO angels to bless me.

Now comes the actual better part. On the very second working day after my submission, the scrutiny of my application was done and on the fourth working day, it was approved (both renewal & address change) and I got an SMS to download the new license in mParivahan. I was able to get the renewed DL in both mParivahan and digilocker instantly.

It is now awaiting printing of the DL but it's only the fifth working day after submission and I am not too worried yet as I now have the "active" digital version which is not expired .

As you can see, it was surprisingly straight-forward & quick:

• I did not have to visit the RTO. The key factor may be that I did Aadhaar eKYC (though it seems to be optional). This perhaps aligns with the government's claim that Aadhaar eKYC can replace manual KYC (perhaps equivalent to visiting/signing in person and submitting hard copies of documents). I kept my old DL with me all the while (have it even now).

• I did not have to pay a single penny as "service charges" (there was a hint dropped about "charges" at the PHC but in the end no one mentioned it again; YMMV).

I hope my experience is of help to someone in need.

PS: Though my DL renewal was completely online; there are a couple of minor (even expected) exceptions (kindly excuse any pun):

• Firstly, getting the medical certificate (form 1a) is an offline process as expected

• Secondly, in my case, my original DL details were not digitized for some reason (though it was a card and not paper-based, and the number was in an older format), so I had to apply for the "backlog" process to get my DL appear in Parivahan - I had to submit 2 photocopies of my DL (then about to expire) and an Id proof copy to the Jayanagar RTO [yes, I had to visit them for this purpose strictly during the application submission timings which is 10 am to 1 pm]. They signed/stamped the second DL copy and gave it to me as an acknowledgement. The DL details appeared in Parivahan within a month (I got an SMS with the new DL number). No, this is not an anticlimax - the DL has to exist in the Parivahan database for the online renewal to kick-in. It's a different matter why they do not proactively do this "backlog" update, but let's not digress. My friend who I mentioned earlier did not have to go through this process (only had to visit the friendly neighborhood PHC).

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