Applicants have to wait 2 months to get driving licence in Jalandhar

People applying for licence at Jalandhar transport office will have to wait for at least two months before they can apply online as no slots are available till September.

Before lockdown, a learner’s licence applicant had to apply for appointment. Others did not require an advance appointment. But now, the authorities have made appointments mandatory to apply for learner’s, permanent or renewal of licence.

The transport department had fixed a limit of 40 appointments for permanent licence and 30 for learner’s from the previous 130 per day, said an official.

“Recently, the department had claimed to provide licences to applicants on the same day in Jalandhar. However, now the applicants are not even getting appointments. Whenever, a person opens the website all driving test slots are booked,” said Amarjot Singh, a Jalandhar resident, who is not getting an appointment since June 1.

As per the revised norms, each applicant has to book a slot online to appear for the mandatory written test, driving test for permanent licence or renewal after which he/she is given a learner’s licence by the district transport office.

Jalandhar track in-charge Maninder Singh said the sudden spike in applicants has led to a wait period of two months for securing appointment.

RTA secretary Brajinder Singh could not be reached for a comment as he is under self-quarantine after attending a meeting in Chandigarh recently.