If it's checked in a fair and transparent way. Did you pass it in a fair way ?

I never realized that I was carrying an expired Driving license (DL) for more than a year, and luckily, I even did not face any vehicle check, else there would have been a nice penalty. It's only during my passport renewal, I looked at the DL and found out that it was dead. So this is something that can't wait, figured out quickly that you can apply for the renewal online, without going to the Regional Transport Office (RTO), BUT it's not that straight, which everyone can do.

You can go to Sarathi site, select your state and then apply for renewal after paying all the necessary dues. Every state has different sites and might have different workflows, but the one that we have is not the best in terms of workflow design. If your driving has expired within a year, then you don't need to give test, but if its expired before 365 days, then you will have to appear for a retest. Unfortunately I saw it just few days after a year of expiry, and since these DLs were made 20 years back, there is no way they can send you a SMS or mail to alert. Ideally, they should have a provision to update details.

On the day of test, you will have to walk to the RTO Test facility before 45 minutes and get a token. There was a long queue and it appeared all people from the morning slots were standing there. Seemed the slot timing is not very strict.

Now comes the funny part - the person standing just behind me started some casual conversation and it was his third time retest, he failed the previous two attempts. That made me very scared - is it so difficult ? What do they check or ask ?

Every time you have pay the retest fee, and if you fail for three times, then you are not allowed to take the test for next six months, so ideally you are not allowed to drive.

Look at that track, you have to go forward till the end, and then come back to the start, without touching the side lines. And 99% people fail while coming back, unless they are pretty good drivers. So how do they get the license then ? Well, they manage to find out some means, that costs some extra, but I am trying my best before going that route.

Made me more nervous, and I was number 12 on the list that day. So we waited for the test to begin, and as the test began, everyone taking the test failed. And the Inspector taking the test would stop them where they failed and show why they failed - felt like he would not allow even a small mistake. I was wondering, if everyone would be asked to take a test like this, then there won't be any accident probably. As my turn came, I made all the window glasses down, so that I can see the track, by taking my head outside. Going forward was easy, but coming back, in this several steep U curves were very difficult. At one point, I thought I would fail, but then I paused for some time, looked from all sides and came back correctly.

They don't tell you the result upfront, but you get a SMS at the evening about the result.

And if you are above 40, then you have to also submit a medical certificate from registered Medical officers while applying. I just got the list and called one of them and paid the money, and he uploaded the certificate ( he has to do, not you).

Unlike older days, they are now issuing a digital DL in PDF format, which you have to download from the site. I am not sure, what a DL extract is, but I have applied for it, and its still pending with them even after 18 days. There is no way I can call or get an update, so I guess I will have to go the RTO office to inquire.

If you have an old license, I advise you set some kind of reminders before a month of expiry of license. If you apply before a month, they charge you extra thirty rupees, crazy !!!

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