THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The motor vehicle driving licences are set to undergo a major facelift both in terms of look and feel and durability as well as security. The Centre has decided to replace the existing laminated cards with high security QR-coded polycarbonate cards.The decision in this regard has been taken by the ministry of road transport and highways. The ministry has decided to make relevant changes in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 , and the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.The draft rules have been sent to states for feedback. "The state is broadly in agreement with the proposed changes in the driving licence format. The motor vehicles department is going for centralized printing of driving licences to make it more modern and secure. Expression of interest is being obtained from accredited agencies of the state government for this purpose. The new model of the driving licence is expected to be out soon," transport commissioner K Padmakumar said.The cards will be of polycarbonate material with laser engraving of the photo of the cardholder on it. The front side of the card will have national emblem, cardholder's name, driving licence number, date of issue, address, blood group, state, validity, holder's signature, holder's photograph, and in addition, it will also be marked whether the card holder is an organ donor.On the reverse side of the card, there would be vehicle class table that will have categorization like motor cycle with gear, light motor vehicle and transport vehicle. The QR code that provides the full details entered at the respective RTO against the person will be engraved on the reverse side of the card. The QR codes carry encoded data that can even be read using a smartphone The state government had earlier made attempt to shift to a similar card system and it got entangled in a legal tussle as several corners with vested interests had allegedly tried to sabotage the attempt. With the decision by the Centre to amend the Act and rules, the state's transformation will be smooth towards the new cards that will be of international quality.The state MVD will move to a new centralized system of driving licence issuance along with the transformation to the new card system. This would mainly reduce the intervention of middlemen at the regional transport offices (RTOs). According to sources in the department, instead of the driving licences being issued from the respective RTOs, the centralized system will issue the licences along with a welcome letter, with guidelines, dos and don'ts.

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