THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The driving licence being issued in the form of book and plastic cards now by motorists will be replaced with microprocessor chip embedded SMART cards from January 15.

The SMART card, which can be readable by law-enforcing agencies all over the country, will have the fingerprint of the driving licence holder to make it tamper proof. Designed as per the specifications of the SMART Card Operating System for Transport Applications (SCOSTA), the microprocessor chip embedded SMART card will have a capacity of 4 KB.

The Motor Vehicle Department has chalked out plans to launch SMART cards along with the Fully Automated Services of the Transport Department (FAST) being launched from January 15. "The plan is to replace all driving licence in book form and plastic cards in the State to SMART cards within two years," Secretary of the State Transport Authority and Project Manager Alex Paul told The Hindu.

The SMART cards, which come in the same dimension of a credit card, will have a visual zone and machine-readable zone. The visual zone will have the name, photograph, age and address of the driving licence holder while the machine-readable zone will have the fingerprint, complete history of the holder and provision for making endorsements.

Besides being handy, the SMART cards are tamperproof. The MVD has also taken steps to include fingerprint to prevent the holder from taking driving licence in any other State when his licence is cancelled. The MVD officials will be provided hand-held machines to enable them to read the SMART cards while carrying out inspection.

Bangalore-based Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) has bagged the contract for supplying the SMART card from among the five firms who had submitted the financial and technical bids. The data of the licence holders will be provided to the ITI by the MVD and the firm would have to return the SMART card back to the department after including the details.

Already, 95 per cent of the 40-lakh driving licences in the State have been digitised. Of course, the motorists will have to pay more for securing the SMART cards. According to officials, the SMART card would cost the motorist Rs.200 as the ITI had quoted Rs.190.

The MVD has also plans to include a host of web-enabled services to provide better service to the motorists with the launch of FAST. By keying in the acknowledgment number of the slip, the public will be able to know the status of their application.

Mr. Paul said the public would also be able to know the engine and chassis number and registration particulars of vehicles, as they would be able to get access to the system.

The date for driving test can also be chosen by the motorist after the first date given by the Computer Aided Learners Licence System (CALLS) centre expires.

The MVD has plans to commence e-payment facility and to set up touch screens at 18 Regional Transport Offices so that the public can get to know the services being offered and the fees they have to remit for various services.

The MVD officials will be able to know registration particulars and tax details of the vehicles by giving an SMS to the system. This will end the practice of stopping the vehicles for checking on the roads, Mr. Paul said.

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