At the Consultative Committee of Parliament, Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday briefed the members about the major information technological advances by his Ministry. Among the major achievements was the development of an automatic driving test system. Gadkari said that in order to reduce human intervention and make the process of testing the drivers tough as well as transparent, Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT), Pune has developed a camera-based automatic driving test system known as Innovative Driving Test System (IDTS). “It provides an unbiased and transparent driving test mechanism with a complete back up of data and videos for generation of reports and redressal of grievances, if any,” said Gadkari.
“This system has been developed in-house and is being used by CIRT, Pune for the Motor Vehicle Department, Government of Maharashtra for grant of licenses to driving license aspirants through the IDTR,” he said. RTO Officers from the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad regions are testing approximately 150 candidates per day to assess the driving skills and issue license in a transparent manner. “The system has generated a positive response from the licensees as well as licensors,” he said.
Similar system is being set up at Chandigarh also by CIRT, Pune. Considering the benefits of the system, several States have shown interest in implementing such system which will be useful in eradicating malpractices and providing effective and transparent services to the license seekers. The system has been set up at a very low cost of Rs20 lakh per track (which depends on track dimensions). Gadkari also spoke about the launch of the web portal http://www.nhtis.org for information about toll plazas on NH including users fee rates.