Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The state government has decided to stop the issuance of a physical smart card driving licence (DL) and paper-based vehicle registration certificates (RC) from January 1, 2022. State commerce and transport secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi informed that the step has been taken under the 5T (transparency, technology, teamwork, timeframe and transformation) mandates of the state government. This will ensure better service delivery to the public and eliminate delays in getting DL and RC via post.
According to the government notification, a web portal is being developed to enable people to download the DL and RC documents. Currently, a person has to pay Rs 240 towards cost and postal despatch of the smart card DL and around Rs 200 for an RC book. A private agency, which was engaged by the government in July 2006 to supply the smart card DLs, was collecting the fee from applicants and facilitating the despatch of the cards to their houses.
Around 15 years ago, the smart card DL replaced the old pocket diary-shaped paper license. From January 1, people can keep the print-out of their DLs and RC details in their vehicles for any kind of official reference and show it to police during enforcement of traffic rules. The new process is aimed at reducing both time and cost for citizens.
