How To Renew Your Driving Licence In India?

As stated in the Motor Vehicles Act (1988), driving without a valid licence is a punishable offence in India, so besides having to think about applying for a new licence when you first learn how to drive and being careful not to lose it, you have to renew your licence as soon as it expires. After your permanent driving licence is issued for the first time, it is valid for 20 years from the issue date or till the day the holder is 50 years old. After the expiry date written on the licence passes, you have 30 days to renew your licence. In other words, your licence is still valid for about a month since the expiry date. If you fail to renew your driving licence after that time period, you have to pay a penalty to renew your licence. However, if you do not renew your driving licence in 5 years from the expiry date, you have to apply for a new driving licence and go through the whole process all over again.

The validity of the renewed driving licence is 5 years for vehicles that are not used for transport purposes and 3 years for those that are.

You need to renew your driving license; otherwise, you will be punished

1. Required documents

The documents that you have to prepare for the driving licence renewal process are as follows:

• Licence for non-transport vehicle:

  • Valid permanent driving licence

  • Proof of address (you only have to submit one of the following documents as proof of address)

    • Permanent address proof

    • House agreement

    • Ration card

    • Temporary address proof (Registered Rental agreement and LPG bill/electricity bill)

    • Passport

    • Voter's identity card (EPIC card)

    • Life insurance policy

    • Utility bills like electricity bill or telephone bill

    • Aadhar Card

    • State or Central Government issued payslip

  • Proof of age (you only have to submit one of the following documents as proof of age)

    • Birth certificate

    • Passport

    • Voter's identity card (EPIC card)

    • Pan Card

    • School matriculation certificate

  • Medical certificate (Form No.1 and Form No.1A)

  • Passport size photos (the required number differs for each state)

• Licence for transport vehicle:

  • All documents required for non-transport driving licence renewal

  • Valid Medical Certificate in form No.1A (Obligatory)

  • Driver refreshing certificate in case of heavy motor vehicles

Apart from the aforementioned documents, you also need to submit a filled driving licence renewal application form. This form can be downloaded and printed from the local RTO’s website or collected from the nearest RTO.If your form is not duly filled in, verification of your documents will be put on hold or delayed all together, so complete the application form as instructed and leave no blank behind.

The documents that you have to submit to renew your driving licence is different from those to apply for a new licence

2. Renewing your driving licence

When you have prepared all of the necessary documents, you have to take them to the local RTO. To submit the papers, you must pay a fee of 200 rupees for a book-form driving licence or a fee of 400 rupees for smart-card driving licence. In case you pass the 30-day grace period of driving licence renewal, you have to pay a penalty of 1000 rupees plus applicable fee. If you change your address in your licence, you have to pay an extra 200 rupees. After submitting the documents and making the required payment, you will have to wait for a maximum period of 20 days for the issuance of the renewed driving licence.

If you prefer to renew your driving licence online, you can do so as well. The procedure is a bit different as you have to do more yourself:

• Visit the official Sarathi website of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (sarathi.nic.in or parivahan.gov.in) or your local RTO website.

• Check whether your state allows online driving licence renewal.

• If it is possible, you will take to a different page. Choose “Driving Licence” on the left side of the webpage.

• Choose “Apply Online”.

• From the drop-down, choose “Services on Driving Licence  (Renewal/Duplicate/Aedl/Others)”.

• Next, the site lists out the stages in application submission. Read it carefully.

• After that, the website takes you step-by-step to complete the application process. Read and follow the instructions.

Note: the renewal fee is the same whether you renew your licence online or offline.

You submit all the mandatory documents and pay the required fee to the local RTO to complete the licence renewal process

3. Get a duplicate driving licence in case your licence is lost or damaged

If you cannot find your driving licence, have it stolen, or damage it to the point of no return when it has not reached its expiry date, you can renew it instead of getting a new licence by applying for a duplicate driving licence. Well, even if you want to renew your licence then, you cannot do so because you have to submit your valid permanent driving licence to the RTO for the renewal process (stated in part 1).

Because driving in public places in India without a valid licence is not allowed, you should work on getting your duplicate driving licence as soon as it is lost or mutilated. The documents that you must have for the duplicate licence application are:

• Original licence (in case it is damaged)

• An FIR or NCR of the licence (in case it is lost or stolen)

• Photocopies of the original licence (in case it is lost or stolen)

• Challan clearance report from the Regional Transport Authority (if your licence is for driving commercial vehicle)

• Proof of address

• Proof of age

• Passport size photos

• A duly filled-in application in Form LLD

The application form for the duplicate driving licence can be printed from the RTO website or collected from the local RTO office.

If you decide to complete the application process in person, you have to visit the RTO office that issued your original driving licence and bring all of the aforementioned documents along with a fee of 200 rupees.

If you want to do the duplicate driving licence application online, the process is more or less the same as when you renew your licence.

The duplicate driving licence works and has the validity that is the exact same as your previous licence.

Note: You can only get a duplicate driving licence if you lose or damage your permanent licence. In case of a learner’s licence, you have to apply for a new learner’s licence again.

If your driving licence is lost, stolen, soiled, or mutilated, you have to apply for a duplicate driving licence

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