The Delhi Transport Department will soon issue QR code-based smart cards for driving licences and Registration Certificates.

“The new driving licence will have an advanced microchip with features like Quick Response (QR) code and Near Field Communication (NFC).,” an official of the Delhi government said.

“The new RC will have the owner’s name printed on the front while the microchip and the QR code would be embedded at the back of the card,” he added.

The cards earlier had embedded chips, but there have been issues with reading the information coded into the chip. The chip reader machine
was not available in required quantity with both the Delhi Traffic Police and the Enforcement Wing of the Transport Department.

Moreover, chips were designed and implemented by the states concerned, which resulted in difficulties in reading the chip and retrieving
information, especially in the case of defaulters.

Now with the QR-based smart card, this issue is resolved. This will enable unification in linking and validating one’s information to
smart cards with Sarathi and Vahan, the two web-based databases of all driving licenses and vehicle registrations.

The QR is also being implemented nationwide. The QR code reader is easily procurable and will do away with the requirement of any manual
intervention altogether. The new cards will also allow two specific materials for their card manufacturing — polyvinyl chloride or PVC,
and polycarbonate which is slightly more expensive but more durable. (card size – 85.6mm x 54.02 mm; thickness minimum 0.7 mm)

The official said an October 2018 notification of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had made changes to the driving
licence and Registration Certificate. The new smart card-based DL and RC will have chip-based/ QR code-based recognition system.

At the same time, documents such as the driving licence or the registration certificate in electronic formats on DigiLockers and
mParivahan were also made valid in the place of physical documents and treated at par with original documents.

The QR code also has an added advantage of acting as a safety feature on the smart card. The department will be able to retain records and penalties of the DL holder up to 10 years on the VAHAN database as soon as a driver’s/ owner’s smart card is confiscated.

The new DL will also help the government in maintaining records of differently-abled drivers, any modifications made to the vehicles, emission standards and the person’s declaration to donate organs.