New MV Act: Now, appear for driving tests in Chandigarh on Saturdays

To manage the increasing rush of people appearing for driving test , the Children’s Traffic Park in Sector 23 will now remain open on Saturdays also.

UT registration and licensing authority (RLA) Virat said, “As per the deputy commissioner’s orders, the traffic park will remain open from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday. This is for the first time that the traffic park will be kept open on a gazetted holiday. Earlier, it would remain open for five weekdays in two shifts per day.”

The order for the same was issued on September 13.

Reason behind the rush

“The number of people applying for a permanent license is same, but the number of applications for licence renewal has increased,” said Virat.

“Earlier, the expired driving licence could be renewed within five years with a penalty of ₹1,100 per year without taking the driving test, but after Section 15 of the Motor Vehicle (MC) Act was amended, the same has to be renewed within one year,” he said.

One of the RLA officials said, “We received six requests for license renewal in the last two weeks of August, while after September 1, the RLA received 137 such cases.”

Heavy fine

“Many people who were driving with expired licences are now taking the test because of the higher fines,” an RLA official said.

Earlier, driving without a licence would fetch ₹1,000 fine, but as per the new amendment the fine, it is ₹5,000 now. The traffic police issued 235 challans to people driving with an expired driving license in September so far.

However, traffic police personnel cannot just stop a vehicle to check for driving licence, and the challan is issued only if the driver commits another visible offence.

Member National Road Safety Council, India, Kamal Soi said, “All road accidents are predictable and avoidable. Regular driving tests ensure that the reflexes of the drivers are tested routinely.”