Keeping in mind the present situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union government has extended the validity of driving licenses, vehicle registration certificates, fitness certificates, and all other kinds of permits till September 30.
This guideline was liable to only those documents which expired after February 2020 and could not be renewed owing to the lockdown restrictions. If unrenewed, an expired driving license has a penalty of ₹5,000, registration certificate ₹5,000 and between ₹2,000-5,000 for void fitness certificate of goods vehicles.
Moreover, the spokesperson also stated that extension is not valid for Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. Clarifying ahead, the government created a new uniform PUC certificate format and made it mandatory for all states to link their PUC database with the provided national register.
All new certificates will consist of a QR code which will provide details of the Owner of the vehicle, license plate no., etc. In addition to this, it will also showcase the emission levels of the vehicle.If the emission levels are more than the acceptable standard, a rejection slip will be issued and the driver has to ensure proper servicing of its engine or other pollution-causing parts.
“…it is advised that the validity of all the referred documents, whose extension of validity could not or was not likely granted due to lockdown and which had expired since the 1st of Feb, 2020, or would expire by 30th September, 2021, the same may be treated to be valid till 30th September, 2021,” said the advisory. “All the states and Union Territories are requested to implement this advisory in letter and spirit so that the citizens, transporters and various other organisations, which are operating under this difficult time, may not get harassed and face difficulties,” it added.