From September 1, you will not be able to buy or register a new vehicle in Tamil Nadu without having a valid driving licence as per a report by Ram Sundaram in The Times of India.
It states that a learner’s licence can be used to get a vehicle of capacity up to 50cc only.
The RTOs have been issued strict instructions to check the availability of driving licence before registering new vehicles.
S Rajavel, president of Tamil Nadu Automobile Association has disputed the validity of the amendment saying that there is no such provision in the Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 that makes licence mandatory for purchase of a vehicle, the report says.
“Possession of driving licence was never a criterion for buying a vehicle. If so, it would have been included in Form 20 (application for registration of vehicles printed based on MV Act),“ he said.
In view of the new rule, there have been protests and the matter has now reached the Madras High Court, as per a report in the New Indian Express.
When activist ‘Traffic’ KR Ramaswamy brought up the matter in court, the first bench led by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee asked, “What is the difficulty in carrying the original driving licence?”
K Aswin, State co-ordinator of Justice for Denials Association, has filed a PIL for an advisory to be issued to the Transport department to not make it compulsory for carrying original driving licence while driving.