August 26, 2009 2:03:47 am
Nearly three years after the launch of smart card driving licence and optical registration cards,the transport department has procured card readers and digital printers though the number is only 50.
Fifty Flying Squad officers of the regional transport offices from Mumbai,Thane,Kalyan,Vashi,Pune and Nashik were trained to use hand-held card readers with printers.
Weve got 50 card readers with digital printers imported from France. Second batch of 200 card readers with printers are expected by October second week, Transport Commissioner Deepak Kapoor told Newsline.
The department got the readers from the service provider for smart card licences,United Telecom and Shwank Tech,the commissioner added.
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Meanwhile,the traffic police still have to procure readers and printers for the department. These readers are only for the RTO,the traffic police would have to procure them independently, Kapoor said.
Smart card licences come with a 4KB memory chip that contains details like name,photograph,signature and thumb impression of the licence holder. It also has space marked for entering offences and the data can neither be deleted nor changed,which can be viewed only through acard reader.
While this handheld device is meant to display the details of the license holder,it will also be used by authorised officials to type the offence of the erring driver that will be stored in the microchip placed in the license. If the offences exceed a set limit,the license could be cancelled.
Kapoor said,As the cards have been issued three years back,they were merely decorative pieces without readers. Officers were unable to register offence on the cards,which is the sole purpose of these embedded chips.
He added,The practice would prevent corruption. With the reader and printer,there would be no room for any sort of settlement between the motorist andthe inspector.
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