Pune: Fewer permanent driving licence seekers in 2021

PUNE: The number of people content with having a learner's licence and renewing it rather than going for the final driving test, and owning a permanent one has increased in Pune in 2021 compared to the previous two years, RTO officials said.
"Until 2020, at least 25% people of the total licence seekers would not apply for a permanent licence in Pune.The percentage in 2021 has increased to nearly 40%," an RTO official told TOI.

The difference between the permanent and learner's licences issued in 2021 stood at almost 64,000, in 2020 it was close to 49,000. In 2019, the difference was around 60,000.
"In the pandemic, the RTO offices were closed for many months in 2020 resulting in the appointments for appearing for a permanent licence test going haywire. But then, the difference persists in 2019 (pre-pandemic year) and in 2021 too when the situation was more or less normal, excluding the second wave. Another reason could be the facility to appear for a learner's licence test sitting at home introduced last year. Also, one doesn't need to know driving to appear for a learner's licence test. All one needs to know are the different road signs and traffic regulations," the official said.
Before 2021, one had to go to the RTO offices to get a learner's licence and appear in the examination in front of a computer under the observance of the RTO inspectors. Now, one can do it at home and print the licence if one passes the test.
"There are people who don't want to go in for the final test as they fear getting infected with Covid-19. The situation is Pune can be better than the other RTO offices as one can get an appointment for the permanent licence in a week. There are certain people who got their learner's licence but had to move out of the city due to Covid-19 and hence could not appear for a permanent licence test. Around 10% people don't care about getting a permanent licence," Sanjiv Bhor, Pune's deputy RTO, told TOI.
Sanjeev Thore, a driving school instructor, said, they have many people who learn driving and are keen to get a licence. "However, some trainees want to learn driving and then wait for a while to get their licence. The most common reason is fear of infection. In and before 2019, lack of confidence was among the main reasons which still is there."