{"id":87314,"date":"2026-10-24T19:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=87314"},"modified":"2026-10-24T19:02:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:32:01","slug":"driving-licence-rule-amendments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-10-2026\/driving-licence-rule-amendments","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Amendments to Driving Licence Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Union government has proposed changes to driving licence rules to tighten the requirements for obtaining a learner\u2019s licence as part of a wider overhaul of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Proposed Changes in the Rules<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stricter learner\u2019s test: <\/strong>It proposes raising the pass mark for the preliminary learners&#8217; test from <strong>60% to 75%.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Applicants will get <strong>15 days<\/strong>, instead of seven, to complete the learner\u2019s licence process and will have to take a safe-driving tutorial of at least 30 minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Documentation: <\/strong>Applicants will have to submit <strong>separate proof of address, age and identity.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The list of acceptable documents will include <strong>Aadhaar, voter ID, passport, e-ration card, PAN a<\/strong>nd certain government-issued identity documents.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Electricity and household gas bills<\/strong> issued within the past three months can also be used as address proof.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Foreign applicants should show that they are legally present in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Simplified licence services: <\/strong>A new <strong>Form 2A<\/strong> is proposed to bring together applications for licence renewal, duplicate licences, changes to names or addresses, updates to personal details and the addition of vehicle categories.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The draft proposes<strong> no fee for changing a licence holder\u2019s name, address or other recorded details.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Medical disclosures: <\/strong>Applicants will have to provide more medical information, including whether they have<strong> epilepsy or other seizure disorders, hearing impairment, night blindness, medicine allergies or medical and surgical implants.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>People who report epilepsy or a seizure disorder, along with a seizure in the previous <strong>three years,<\/strong> or who are on <strong>anti-epileptic medication at present <\/strong>or are on a tapering course of that medication<strong>,<\/strong> will <strong>not be eligible for a driving licence.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The details about medicine allergies, implants and certain other medical information will be <strong>used only if the person is hospitalised after a road accident.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The draft also proposes collecting information such as <strong>blood group and emergency contact details <\/strong>in licence applications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Standardised licence format:<\/strong> Laminated or <strong>polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cards<\/strong> are proposed as the prescribed format for driving licences, with different background colour schemes and nationality included among the licence details.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of the Draft Amendment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Improved road safety: <\/strong>A higher assessment threshold will encourage better understanding of traffic rules and safe-driving practices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ease of living:<\/strong> Fee waivers, online applications and simplified documentation will reduce compliance costs and repeated visits to licensing offices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Administrative transparency: <\/strong>Prescribed decision timelines and recorded reasons for rejection will improve accountability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Better emergency response: <\/strong>Collecting blood group and emergency-contact details will help make relevant information available during emergencies, subject to appropriate safeguards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Assessment quality:<\/strong> The assessment should meaningfully test traffic-rule awareness, hazard perception and the protection of vulnerable road users.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rigorous practical tests: <\/strong>Practical driving tests should be standardised, objective and resistant to manipulation or undue discretion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital accessibility:<\/strong> Online services should be supported by accessible assistance for applicants facing digital or authentication barriers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data protection:<\/strong> Additional personal and medical information should be collected and used only for defined purposes, with appropriate safeguards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/government-plans-colour-coded-driving-licences-for-citizens-foreign-nationals\/article71615858.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nContext<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>The Union government has proposed changes to driving licence rules to tighten the requirements for obtaining a learner\u2019s licence as part of a wider overhaul of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nProposed Changes in the Rules<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"\t>\nStricter learner\u2019s test: It proposes raising the pass mark for the preliminary learners&#8217; test from 60% to 75%.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\nApplicants will get 15 days, instead of seven, to complete the learner\u2019s licence process and will have to take a safe-driving tutorial of at least 30 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-10-2026\/driving-licence-rule-amendments \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87314"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87316,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87314\/revisions\/87316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}