Printing, distribution of RC, driving licences resume

The Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) has resumed the printing and distribution of the registration certificates (RC) of vehicles and driving licences of candidates.

The services had been disrupted since last November after the company that prints the documents stopped service following a delay in payments by the MVD. The State government launched PVC PETG smart card driving licenses last year, replacing laminated cards.

However, the printing of the cards has been delayed since last November after the private firm engaged in the printing of the documents stopped the service in the wake of mounting arrears. The State had then owed a whopping ₹8.66 crore to ITI Bengaluru. The MVD was also liable to pay a service charge of ₹6.58 crore to the CDIT since January 2023 for providing facility management services, apart from the service charge arrears to the tune of around ₹6 crore to the postal department in connection with the despatching of documents by post

Later, the Cabinet meeting held in the last week of February released ₹15 crore to clear the pending arrears the department owes to ITI Bengaluru and the CDIT. In a media briefing, Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar said all the pending arrears, including the payment to the

Postal department, have been cleared and the printing and distribution of the documents have resumed. The issue between the MVD and the Postal department is also solved. In case, the Postal department raises any further issues, the courier service of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will be roped in for the distribution of these documents, said the Minister.

It is estimated that as many as 10 lakhs documents were to be printed since November. The services were hit following the poor financial situation of the State government. The services were also disrupted despite the MVD collecting user fees from the public for delivering various services.