RAWALPINDI, Nov 30: The Punjab government has decided to inter-link 35 districts’ traffic police offices through computer for issuing of smart card driving licences, an official source said.

The two-phased project will cost Rs165.244 million and would be completed in less than two year.

It will ensure the transparency and eliminate malpractices and involvement of middleman and agents in preparation of licences.

The software and hardware used in the project would be provided by the Punjab Information Technology department, whereas the district traffic authorities would provide the building.

Under the new project, two separate booths would be established at each district for issuing a learner’s permit. While separate booths would be set up for photograph, while medical examination would be essential for those individuals who would be above the age of 50 years.

Under the new computerised system, learner’s permit will have scanned photograph of the applicant. He will be able to get his permit within a matter of minutes and it would be valid for 42 days.

However, a written test for a driving license would be taken while the driving skill and signal test would be taken manually.

The smart card computerized driving licence will contain all essential information about the licence holder and his/her photograph along with signature and thumb impression. It will be similar to Nadra national identity card.

The computerised driving licence will have “active bar code” containing essential information about the licence holder, details of driver’s previous offence record, if any.

All the information and data collected from the applicants will be stored in Computerized Driving License Record Office (CDLRO) Lahore.

Superintendent of Police Traffic department Rawalpindi, Matloob Hussain when contacted said the Punjab government had approved the project for all the districts and it had already started functioning in Lahore and would soon be launched in Rawalpindi and other districts.