Driving licence: Telangana plans mandatory online road safety course

Telangana may make an online road safety course mandatory before applicants can book their permanent driving licence test. The pilot, underway in Kukatpally, includes six modules, more than 120 videos and an assessment that applicants must pass.

Hyderabad: Aspiring motorists may soon have to clear a mandatory online road safety course before they can book a slot for their permanent driving licence test.

The plan follows a pilot project currently being conducted in the Kukatpally RTO limits, where it is learnt that nearly 1,200 applicants had enrolled, and nearly 960 completed the course.

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The Transport department is reportedly planning to extend the programme across the State. If implemented statewide, Telangana would become the first State in the country to make an online road safety course compulsory for permanent driving licence applicants.

Under the proposed system, applicants will have to complete a 2.5-hour course comprising six modules after obtaining a learner’s licence. Each module will take about 25 minutes and collectively feature more than 120 videos explaining road safety rules, defensive driving, hazard perception and responsible road behaviour.

Applicants will then have to take a 20-mark assessment and secure at least 15 marks to become eligible to book a driving test. Those who fail will have to repeat the entire course before attempting the assessment again.

It is learnt that the platform has also been designed to prevent applicants from skipping lessons or getting someone else to complete the course. Further, the videos cannot be fast-forwarded or played at higher speeds, while facial recognition technology will be used to verify the identity of the person undertaking the training.

The course will be available in Telugu, English, Hindi and Urdu and can be accessed through smartphones, tablets and laptops fitted with cameras. Officials believe mandatory pre-test safety training could help address driver-related road crashes.

Around 60 per cent of the content development cost was funded by UNICEF, while TG Online developed and maintains the digital platform.