RTO plans SMS alert at dispatch of licence, registration certificate

NAGPUR: Applicants waiting for delivery of driving licences and vehicle registration certificates at home will soon start getting an SMS from Nagpur Regional Transport Office (RTO) or postal department, intimating them about the dispatch of the document. Both RTO and postal department officials plan to start the SMS service and inform candidates about dispatch date of documents.This will allow applicants to ensure they take delivery of the documents at home.
A senior RTO official said city RTO office had received many complaints regarding licences not being delivered at home. Many licences were returned as there was nobody to receive them at the address or the address was wrong.
After implementation of the SMS system, candidates appearing for the driving licence test will have to give their mobile number or some other mobile contact number, which will be fed into the SMS system. Once the licencing procedure is over, RTO will hand over the licences to the postal department and also send a SMS on the given mobile number about the dispatch date, the officer informed.
As the candidate will get prior intimation about delivery date of important documents, he can remain present or make some arrangements at home to receive the documents. However, even after sending SMS, if licences and registration cards are returned to RTO, and if an applicant is unable to furnish adequate proof to staff at the time of rechecking, the licence will be cancelled, officials said.
The state government's scheme of delivering driving licences at home by post has caused inconvenience to many. The service started on September 1 last year. RTO has tied up with the postal department, which charges Rs 50 per licence from RTO. Driving licences are dispatched through Speed Post within a few days of the driving test.
Sources at RTO said that even after nine months of the launch, most applicants were complaining that they had not received their licence or RC book. City RTO office gets over 300 permanent driving licences applications and around 400 applications for vehicle registration each day.
City RTO Sarjerao Shelke claimed that since the licence and RC books began to be sent by post, the rush at RTO to collect these documents has reduced. Only a few licence applications are returned as people have shifted homes or are not available at the time of delivery. "If someone has not received a licence or RC card, they could check the Indian Postal Service website to find out whether the documents have been dispatched or not," he said.