90 pc applications for driving licence received online in July: Delhi transport department

More than 90 per cent of applications for driving licence last month were received online, Delhi's transport department data showed.

According to the department, 17,435 of 19,375 fresh applications for permanent driving licence in July were made online. Only 1,940 applicants chose to visit regional transport offices (RTOs) to have their permanent driving licence.

"We started using the all India Saarthi 4 software of NIC in mid 2017. The figures for July 2018 are here. Online is increasing steadily in all RTOs and now exceeds offline almost everywhere (sic)," Delhi transport secretary-cum-commissioner Varsha Joshi tweeted.

There were a few online applicants when the online facility was started in July last year, but the number has picked up gradually, she said.

Also, online applications for learners' licences also exceeded offline requests, data shows.

There were 18,344 online applications as against 14,451 offline applications for learners' driving licence in July.

The online facility cuts down on the time people have to spent in queues at the motor licensing offices(MLOs) for driving licences. Nevertheless, the department has set up helpdesks at all the MLOs barring three, to assist people in filling up forms if they choose offline mode of application.

An analysis of data shows maximum online applications for learners' licence were received at Rohini (2,499), followed by Dwarka (2,538) and Loni (2,065). The least number of applications was made at IP Depot (186).

Sheikh Sarai, Loni, Mayur Vihar, Wazirpur and Suraj Mal Vihar MLOs received more offline applications than online ones for learners licence.