Indians in UAE: Renew International Driving Permits at embassy or consulate
Government looks to close loophole for Indians abroad with expired licences
New Delhi: Indian embassies and consulates abroad, including the GCC states, will soon facilitate the renewal of International Driving Permits for citizens whose permit expired while abroad.
“It has come to notice that for citizens who are in a foreign country, the International Driving Permit gets expired and there is no mechanism for its renewal while abroad,” India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a press release.
“Citizens can apply through Indian embassy/mission abroad portals and the applications would then move to the VAHAN for being considered by the respective RTOs.”
VAHAN is the Indian government’s integrated system for services such as vehicle registration, issuance of permits and payment of taxes under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. RTO stands for Regional Transport Office, the Indian government organisation responsible for maintaining a database of drivers.
The new procedure follows an amendment to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules of 1989.
The government is also seeking comments and suggestions from the public for such amendments. They can be sent to the Joint Secretary (MVL,IT & Toll), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Transport Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110 001 within 30 days or emailed to jspb-morth@gov.in
Proposed amendments include removal of the requirement of a medical certificate and a valid visa at the time of making the request for an IDP while an Indian is abroad.
“Further, there are many countries where visa is issued on arrival and in such cases the visa was not available when applying for the IDP in India before travel,” the press release said.