CHANDIGARH: Soon, people holding regular licence to drive light motor vehicle (LMV) will be able to drive commercial vehicle of the same category.
At present, the holders of regular LMV driving licence are not allowed to drive commercial vehicle without obtaining separate endorsement and they have to apply for commercial LMV licence.
Following direction from the ministry of road transport and highways, the transport department of Chandigarh administration has written to the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) for making the required changes.
The exemption from the requirement to obtain the endorsement for commercial vehicles would apply to motorcycle without gear, motorcycle with gear, light motor vehicles (goods/passenger) and e-rickshaw/e-cart.
According to the order issued by the ministry, transport licence would be required only in case of medium/heavy goods and passenger vehicles only, while no other type of vehicle will require any separate endorsement, even if they are used for commercial purposes.
UT director-transport Amit Talwar said the direction of the ministry has been communicated to the RLA, which will issue a formal notification.
For the benefit of residents, RLA has started giving appointment for international driving licence the day after applying online. Earlier, the appointment was given as per the availability of the slots. Rakesh Kumar Popli, in-charge at RLA, said the decision has been taken as those travelling abroad have time constraint.
The applicant can login to official website —www.chdtransport.gov.in— for getting an appointment and can also fix an online appointment through Chandigarh helpline number (18601802067).
At present only 260 slots —from 9am to 4pm— are available in a day. The service was earlier only available for driving licence and registration of vehicles. Since the launch of the service, all the slots are booked. The system was introduced with an aim to spare the resident the ordeal of running from pillar to post to avail services at RLA.