In this data-driven world, information is very important in everything that you need or want to do. Especially in India, every part of life is driven by information. Your identity itself is created and depends on the information you can provide to support anything that you wish to do through it. With rapid developments in information technology infrastructure, every bit of information about a person is present on digital databases. The most obvious example of that is the Aadhar card that includes your personal details like age, date of birth, and biometrics. However, what you might not know is that you can also keep a digital copy of the documents. Since, most documents these days are issued digitally, it makes sense that you can present them when you need to.
Since vehicle documents like car insurance online policy and driving license are also presented digitally, the same should ideally apply to them. However, car owners have also had doubts regarding the documents they would have to present to traffic authorities. As per the status quo, you should have all the documents related to your vehicle with you at the time of driving. However, having digital copies on your mobile device is still technically having them with you. But is that a valid reason to not carry physical copies as far as traffic authorities are concerned? This is one of the biggest doubts that has plagued car owner in the country. Read on to find out whether digital copies of vehicle documents are considered valid.
Change in traffic policy
The good news for all drivers is that they do not have to carry an original or printed copy of their driving license, third party car insurance, and registration certificate (RC). The Ministry of Transport of India has informed all the state traffic police departments that electronic or digital formats of vehicle documents will suffice. All drivers can submit their documents in soft copy format through Digilocker or mParivahan app. According to the Information Technology Act, 2000, such digital formats are legally considered to be equivalent to the original formats.
According to a statement from the ministry, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification to all states to accept registration certificates, driving licenses, vehicle insurance or other documents in ‘electronic form’ and submit them through Digilocker or mParaivahan. This suggestion by the ministry is because storing digital copies of your documents is valid under the Motor Vehicles Act and is considered equivalent to the certificates issued by the transport authorities. Even though the proposal was passed, state officials refused to accept such digital documents. The ministry has received several complaints that state officials are failing to accept digital or electronic documents as valid.
In a response to that, the ministry has stated that it would not be compulsory for vehicle owners to carry the hard copies of the vehicle documents like the insurance certificate (insurance certificate is issued during the purchase or during car insurance renewal) if the vehicle registration details were updated in the mParivahan / e-Challan app. The online authentication of certificates is likely to assist the traffic authorities in verifying the authenticity of the details, resulting in better compliance and effective monitoring.
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