12 Simple Steps to Link your Aadhaar Card & Driving License

Your mobile phone must be flooded with such messages like ‘Please link your Aadhaar card with XYZ document.’ Such messages can be perceived as important by some, unnecessary and irritating by others. There is no denying the fact that your Aadhaar card has become one of the most essential identity-related document in India. There are reports that suggest it will be mandatory for you to link your Aadhaar Card with driving license in the near future.

Read ahead to find out the thought process and methodology behind the idea of linking these two crucial documents.

What Is The Need To Link Aadhaar Card and Driving License?

Road Transport Act states that one person cannot have more than one driving license. However, it has been found that people have multiple driving licenses. Since a driving license is valid across the country, there is no need for a different license for a different state. Thus, there is no need for multiple licenses.

Aadhaar card has a unique number and when it is linked with driving license, it will help to curb the issue of multiple driving licenses. Since the Aadhaar card has personal identification information, it can be helpful to verify a person while giving out a driving license. This will reduce the instances of fake driving licenses.

How To Link Aadhaar Card With Driving License?

Indian driving license is given by respective state-driven Road Transport Departments. In most of the states, you can apply for a driving license online. As several of these departments have an online presence, you can link your Aadhaar card to the Indian driving license by visiting your state’s Regional Transport Office’s (RTO) website. The process might vary as per the state’s website.

Steps to Link Aadhaar Card With DL:

1. Visit your Road Transport website of the state from where your driving license was  issued

2. The website will have a ‘Link Aadhaar’ button if the functionality is added to it

3. Go to ‘Aadhaar Number Entry’

4. Select ‘Driving License’ from the drop-down option

5. Mention your Driving License number

6. Click on ‘Get Details’

7. Verify your displayed Driving License details

8. Enter Aadhaar card number

9. Enter mobile number linked with Aadhaar card

10. You will receive a "One Time Password" (OTP) on your mobile phone

11. Enter OTP

12. Linking complete

List of Transport Authority Websites

You can refer to the table given below to link your Aadhar card to the driving license:

6 Advantages of Linking Aadhaar Card and Driving License

As both these documents are identity-related, this linking will strengthen the personal identity verification process. It can also improve transparency and help to reduce corruption in the long run.

Here are some direct advantages of the linking:

1. Operations will become more streamlined

2. Enable data verification

3. Stop the issuance of fake online driving license

4. Stop the issuance of multiple online driving license

5. Creation of a central database for transparency

6. Reduce the turnaround time of applying and receiving the driving license

Is It Mandatory to link Aadhaar Card and Driving License?

The timeline for linking the Aadhaar card with your driving license has not been set yet. Once the rule is in place, two-wheeler and four-wheeler owners who get a new license or renew their license might have to link it.

Importance of Aadhaar Card and Driving License in India

Aadhaar is a program started by the Government of India and is the world’s largest biometric identifications system. World Bank Chief Economist Paul Romer described Aadhaar as “The most sophisticated ID programme in the world”. In order to enroll for the Aadhaar card, one needs to register detailed biometric information and documents related to age and address proofs.

An Indian driving license authorizes a person to drive a particular class of vehicles in India. A person is not permitted to drive a vehicle without being a driving license holder. To acquire a driving license, one needs to pass two kinds of examinations – online test and practical driving test. Nowadays, it is possible to apply for a driving license online.

Both, Aadhaar Card and driving license, are important documents. Having an Aadhaar card is a prerequisite for every Indian citizen, and having a driving license is a prerequisite for everyone who wishes to drive a vehicle. These documents bear unique identification numbers.

The Way Ahead

Several processes are being digitized in India. Few years ago, one had to visit the RTO to file an application for a driving license. Now, it can be done extremely easily online. Just as that process was digitized and helped the end-users, the linking of Aadhaar card with the driving license is also aimed at smoothening the ride.

All state’s Road Transport Departments have not gone ahead with the linking functionality, it is still in progress. The linking might become mandatory once the necessary infrastructure to execute such a big-scale project is in place.