Letter of authority from vehicle owners to drivers: State to develop UDIN

KOLKATA: The state Transport department has collaborated with the state Information Technology and Electronics department for developing Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) which could be leveraged for issuance of letter of authority by the owner of vehicles to drivers who are driving his/her vehicle.

In recent times, during checking of the motor vehicles within the state, it has been found that some drivers are not carrying the authorised consent from the owner of such vehicles which is violative of the provisions of Section 197 (1) of Motor Vehicles Act 1988.

It has been found that some drivers are carrying the notarised consent in the non judicial stamp paper from the owner of the vehicle.

For multiple authorisations to multiple drivers by a single owner, UDIN has been found a convenient tool as the QR code enables verification of the document’s authenticity, creates ease of travel, verification and enforcement.

“We feel that it is necessary for the driver of every vehicle to have the written consent of the owner of the vehicle. The Letter of Authority (LOA) in terms of Section 197 and 198 of MV Act 1988, generated through UDIN will be an equally acceptable document as manually issued and notarised LOA. Thus, the generation of LOA through UDIN portal will be an optional provision available at fingertips of the citizens for ease of use and better governance,” a senior official of the Transport department said.

The details of the vehicle owner will be verified through Vahan database. The authorisation will be done in the format prescribed by the department on the UDIN portal and can be Aadhaar authenticated from anywhere. The LOA will be valid for a maximum of 12 months and can be renewed accordingly.

The vehicle owner can also terminate LOA at any point of time. The LOA will also bear the necessary details of the driver captured through an API (application programming interface) from

Sarathi database.